The Time Page's Wish
by The-Bookkeeper-96
Summary: It's been four months and Uncle Joe is still missing. On his twelfth birthday, Joe decides it's time to track him down. One wish lands them in the middle of a revolution. And it seems the only way to get them home is with the help of some untrustworthy thieves. As long as they don't take The Book for themselves.
1. Prologue

_Tick_.

The sound echoes throughout the massive circular chambers, reverberating off clock faces, hourglasses, and globes. The center piece of the room is a large, dark wooden desk with a matching chair resting behind it. Though the room is sparsely decorated, it leaves anyone who enters it with a sense of wonder. There is something strange about the air. Something thick floats through it, caressing your skin and teasing your hair. It's almost… magical.

"It would seem we have run out of time."

"Not yet, but the countdown has begun. The hourglass will soon be empty."

Two figures stand alone in the expansive office. A plethora of clocks hang on the walls, and grandfather clocks are proudly displayed underneath them. Each one is set to a different time and decorated with unique patterns and symbols. One clock stands out among the rest, the source of the _tick_.

This clock isn't huge, but it dwarfs the other clocks all the same. The room pulses with its power. It's a grandfather clock, and the pendulum has been carved to look like a skull with hourglasses for eyes. The face is glowing a soft green. Mist of the same color is gradually spilling out of the sides of the dark wooden frame. On this clock, the time is 12:01.

"I suppose it was too much to hope that we would not be the ones to deal with this," the first figure speaks, eyeing the deadly clock with a crease in their brow.

"We won't," the second figure says. Their expression is a mirror of their partner's. Their eyes skim the top of the desk, looking for something that is not there. "The next generation will not be so lucky."

"They're children. Not to mention they are still untrained. We can't possibly ask them to do this."

"You know as well as I do that we have no choice. They'll just have to start their training earlier than we had originally planned. I know the traditional age is eighteen, but exceptions have been made in the past."

"Yes, but never this young."

They stare at the clock in silence, as if it would guide them through this. It responds with its own silence. The silver hands remain still. Mist continues to pour out of the sides. It dissipates only a foot away from the base, but it's still thick enough to hide the floor surrounding it.

"How long do you think we have?" They try and fail to hide the tremor in their voice. To distract themselves, they twirl a silver ring around their finger. A strange alchemic symbol catches the light, briefly reflecting it onto the skull pendulum.

"A few years at least. Though the decay rate of time is more than likely exponential." They tap their chin, lost in thought. A similar ring with a different alchemic symbol rests on their finger. "We've probably already lost the Hadean Eon."

"The general population will begin to notice soon then." They let out a heavy sigh, shaking their head. "Are the letters ready to be sent out? We'll need to start training immediately. The council will want to host the trial soon."

"They were ready the moment they were born." The figure holds their palm out. Like magic, two golden envelopes fly out from behind the desk in the center of the room. "You know where to go. Find them as soon as possible."

Each envelope is embellished with one name written in green ink, but no address. Nonetheless, the two letters disappear in a puff of lime-green smoke and begin to find their way to their recipients.

"I wish we had more time."

"When has wishing ever helped? Besides, this event has been years in the making. You know the story as well as I do." They glance at a bookshelf crammed full of books of all colours and sizes with loose pieces of paper sticking out haphazardly here and there. It occupies an entire corner of the room, the only place that doesn't have any clocks or hourglasses. If any more books are added, they will need a second bookshelf.

"Do you really think they can save us? Do you think we can train them well enough for this?"

"What other choice do we have? We're running out of time, and everyone's lives depend on them."

 _Tick_.

* * *

 **A/N - So this is my first dive into fanfiction. Putting this out there as a feeler to see what you guys think! Please feel free to leave a review and some constructive criticism! For more info about this story, check out my profile!**


	2. Happy Birthday

"Happy birthday!" Fred and Sam cheer.

Joe beams at his two best friends and blows out the lone candle on his slice of cake. He can't remember a time in his life when they weren't by his side. Most kids his age would want to have an over-the-top party with hundreds of guests. But Joe's perfectly content to sit around his house with his long-time friends. Currently, they are sitting around his bedroom, torn wrapping paper is scattered around the room. Each boy is holding a plate with a piece of vanilla cake on top of it. The daily news drones on in the background.

"For those just tuning in, we are reporting live from the American Museum of Natural History. This morning, the museum discovered some of their oldest items on exhibit had vanished. Officials are still investigating the scene for signs of a break-in, but no evidence has yet been found. This robbery follows a string of recent events at several museums throughout the country. Museums have not been the only victims. Private collectors have also-"

The TV screen flicks to black.

Fred tosses the remote back onto Joe's bed. "How can you listen to that stuff?" Fred groans. "It's so boring."

Joe shrugs. "My dad's been really concerned lately. He doesn't want any of his relics from his trips getting stolen. He has a lot of valuable things downstairs. Masks, shields, a sarcophagus, all one-of-a-kind stuff."

"Fred, you should be concerned. A lot of historically priceless items are going missing." Sam sighs and shakes his head. "They're culturally and scientifically important."

"It's not like they're gone forever. Someone just stole them. The police will find them and bring them back. Things don't just vanish out of thin air." Fred swallows a large bite of birthday cake, and continues to speak with a full mouth. "You worry too much."

Sam rolls his eyes, knowing he isn't going to get through to Fred. He turns his attention to his other friend. "Aren't you concerned, Joe?"

"About my dad's artifacts? Sure, but he installed a new security system, and very few people know what he has."

"No." Sam looks out the door to make sure no one is listening in. He wants to argue that whatever security system his dad had bought was probably not better than what the museums use, but he has another point to make. "About _The Book_. It's basically a historical artifact. That thing is likely to be thousands of years old, if not millions."

Joe glances at the locked box on top of his dresser. Two years ago, he had received a mysterious blue book as a birthday gift from his uncle. He, Sam, and Fred had quickly discovered that it was more than just a book. It was a time machine, but even that doesn't sum up everything it's capable of. Not that Joe was aware of the amount of power it holds.

He hasn't messed with _The Book_ in a while. Four months ago, he warped to Scotland with his younger sister and great-granddaughter, Jodie. His uncle had shown up as well, but on the return warp home, he had oddly vanished, leaving only a note and a pocket watch behind. Joe had been promoted to a Time Page, whatever that meant. He has so many questions for his uncle, but no way to ask them. Joe's beginning to worry. He had hoped his uncle would show up today to wish him a happy birthday, but there's been no sight of him so far.

Joe glances at his doorway, hoping to see a familiar face appear. Maybe he just got caught in traffic. He has to show up today. He wouldn't forget his favourite nephew's birthday.

Sam notices his staring, a small frown forming. "Still no word from your Uncle Joe, huh?"

"What?" Joe snaps out of his thoughts and turns to Sam. Reluctantly, he answers, "No. It's been months and as I far as I know, he hasn't come back. I'm sure he's fine. He can handle himself."

Both Fred and Sam hear the doubt in his voice. A quick smile lights up Fred's face. "I have an idea. This will definitely get your mind off of things." He gets to his feet and walks over to the lock box. He flips the lid open with ease and pulls out a small blue book with silver designs on the cover. "How about we take a little trip? Wherever the birthday boy wants to go. What do you say?"

"I say no!" Sam jumps up and away from _The Book_. He looks at Fred like he's holding a gun to his head. "When has using that ever gone well for us?"

"Oh, come on, Sam. Joe's a Time Page now. He's like a super warper! Besides, we've been doing this for two years." Fred waves _The Book_ back and forth, teasing his friends. Not realizing how dangerous his actions are. "It'll be more fun than laying around here all day."

Joe eyes _The Book_. Truthfully, he's more worried Fred's going to send them back to the dinosaurs. He hops off his bed and grabs it out of Fred's hands before anything bad happens. "I don't know, Fred. I haven't used it in a while. I'm sort of out of practice."

"So, get back in practice!" Fred throws his arm over Joe's shoulder. "Hey, we can even try to find your Uncle Joe."

Joe pauses at that. He does want to find his uncle to make sure he's okay, and he does miss warping. "Well…"

"No, no, no." Sam crosses his arms. "We're having plenty of fun here. We don't need to warp anywhere. With our luck, we'll end up in the middle of the Revolutionary War!"

"But I'm a Time Page now." Joe lifts his chin high. "I can take us anywhere, no problem." Joe starts to like the idea of warping to find his uncle more and more. Sam isn't wrong. They had had some crazy mishaps before, but that was in the past. Besides, everything always turned out all right in the end for them.

"Joe," Sam warns. He continues to inch away from the book in Joe's hands. He's really the only one of the three who fully understands the power _The Book_ contains. He's rightfully afraid of it.

Joe grins, his mind made. "Guys, we're going on a trip."

"You are out of your mind," Sam groans. He holds up his hands, as if that would stop him from being sucked away into the green mist.

"Calm down, Sam." Joe flips open _The Book_ and scans for a page that would help him find his Uncle Joe. He has no idea where to start. He should have read it a long time ago. Summer break is about to end, but there are still a few weeks left. Maybe he can read a few chapters before he goes back to school.

"So where do you want to go?" Fred's grin is so wide it practically falls off his face. "Borneo? Maui? Oh! How about Jamaica?"

"Maybe…" In truth, Joe doesn't want to go to any of those places. Sure, they're nice, but they aren't going to help him find his uncle. He could try going back to Scotland. He doesn't really want to relive getting shot from a trebuchet though. And Uncle Joe left on the warp home. He probably isn't there.

"Nowhere. He wants to go nowhere," Sam pleads. He stares at Joe with wide eyes. "I really don't want to die today."

"We won't die, Sam." Joe chuckles. "We'll have a few near-death experiences, but we won't die. If anything happens, I'll use my amazing Time Page skills to take us home."

"How is that any better?" Sam's voice rises in pitch.

Joe continues to flip through the pages of his magical book. He finds a picture of his family tree. It traces all the way back to the first owner of _The Book_ , some girl named Shanti. He traces his finger down the trunk until he finds his Uncle Joe. He tries tapping on the photo, but nothing happens. No mist, nothing. Maybe there's another way to find his lost uncle. What are some of the ways they had triggered a warp in the past? Palindromes, magic squares, wishes…

"You want to travel? That's fine. Let's do it like normal people. We'll book a flight somewhere." Sam stands behind Joe's bed. He glares at Fred, as if this was all his fault. "I'll even pay for it."

"You can afford to take all of us on a tropical vacation?" Fred crosses his arms, his eyebrow raises. "Why have you been holding back on us, man?"

Joe closes his eyes, blocking out his friends' bickering. _I wish I could find my Uncle Joe_ , he thinks. It seems childish, but it worked in the past. The first time they had ever warped, it was because Fred had wished they could find buried treasure and sail the seventeen seas. Next thing they knew, they were stuck in a tree staring down at Blackbeard.

Joe waits, but nothing happens with _The Book_. Maybe he isn't wishing for the right thing, or maybe he has to say it out loud? Joe speaks with a sigh, "I just wish I knew what I was supposed to do."

On cue, green mist pours out of _The Book_ , swirling around the boys. It slides up their legs, eager to take them somewhere and sometime new.

"What did you do?" Sam jumps onto the bed, trying and failing to avoid the magical fog. It wraps around his waist, like a person reuniting with an old friend.

Fred laughs. "I hope it takes us somewhere fun. No Antarctica, no African desert. Please, take us somewhere tropical."

Joe grins at the time travel machine with sparkling eyes. He honestly didn't expect that to work. Unlike Fred, he doesn't care if _The Book_ takes them someplace fun or exciting. As long as it gets him on the right track to find his Uncle Joe, he'll be more than happy.

In the blink of an eye, the mist pulls them away.

* * *

 **Reviews and critiques always welcome. Thanks for reading!**


	3. Bienvenue a Paris

The first sight to greet the boys is a horse drawn carriage raging towards them.

"I knew it!" Sam screams, cowering in the street. "I knew I was going to die today!"

Fred and Joe jump to the safety of the sidewalk, dragging Sam along with them, unceremoniously dropping him when they get there.

"Geez, Sam," Fred chuckles. "You would think you've never been nearly run over before."

"Because I haven't!"

"I can think of three separate occasions where that has happened to us."

"Guys," Joe cuts them off. He forces them to look in his direction. "Check this out."

Across the street, in large, bold lettering, the words "kill the king" are painted on a wall. Each word is painted blue, white, and red respectively. A grotesque caricature of a king hanging from a rope is drawn underneath. His eyes are Xs and a bloated blue tongue is popping out of his mouth. There are smaller stick figures surrounding it that appear to be cheering his death.

To their credit, the people walking on the street pay it no mind. They simply go about their day, like nothing is out of the ordinary.

"Kill the king?" Sam runs his hand through his hair, tugging at the ends, and pulling a few strands out. "Where on Earth did you take us? What did you do?"

"I just wanted to find my uncle. So, maybe he's here?" Joe scans the crowd, looking for a familiar purple top hat and curly mustache. Nothing stands out to him, but it's hard to see over the three-foot-tall wigs and voluminous dresses everyone is wearing. Joe bites his lip. "He has to be here."

"Maybe you're the reason we're here, Sam," Fred argues. "You were the one who started talking about the revolution. We all know that thing only needs one trigger word to kick on. Killing a king seems pretty revolutionary to me."

Sam's fists clench. "This isn't my fault. I didn't even want to warp!"

"Calm down." Joe stops the search for Uncle Joe to end Fred and Sam's bickering. "Let's just look around for a bit and see if my uncle is nearby. If we don't find him, I promise I'll take us all home with the- _oh_."

"Let me guess. You don't have _The Book_?" Sam's arms fold across his torso. He cocks an eyebrow at Joe.

"It must've slipped out of my hands when we warped." Joe rubs the back of his neck. "It's gotta be close."

"Great, just great." Sam huffs. "What happened to your amazing Time Page skills? I thought you had better control over that thing!"

"I do! I swear! But accidents happen." Joe turns and starts walking down the street, glancing in shop windows for any sign of _The Book_ or his uncle. Fred and Sam move to keep up with him. "I promise, I'll have us home in no time."

"Where have I heard that before?" Sam grumbles under his breath.

Fred, enjoying the moment, observes everything going on around them. He tips his hat at passersby. "Sam, I really think you should lighten up a bit. Have you tried yoga? This isn't so bad. For a revolution, I'd say this is pretty calm. No fighting, no yelling. People are chill. How is this even considered a war?"

Sam opens his mouth to counter Fred, but noticing the peacefulness of the streets, changes his mind. "You're right."

"Thank you. I'm not completely stupid, you know," Fred teases his nerdy friend, a silly grin appearing to match his mood.

Sam rolls his eyes. "Something isn't right. If this is a revolution, why are there no gunshots or screams?"

"Are you saying you want there to be gunshots and screams?"

"No."

"Maybe it just hasn't started yet, but the tensions are building." Joe shrugs, more concerned about dealing with the real reason why they came here. "We don't know the exact date or anything. We don't even know where we are."

"Let's just get out of here before the actual fighting starts then."

The trio continues their walk down the busy streets. Aside from a few stray looks, no one pays them any attention. They don't fit in with their clothes or hair styles, but no one seems to care or stops to ask them any questions. None of the people they walk past are Uncle Joe and none of the bookstores have _The Book_.

"Can we take a break or something? I'm starving." Fred rubs his stomach, which is growling profusely.

"You just ate almost half a cake. How does your body burn so much energy?" Sam stares at Fred with raised eyebrows. "You are a mystery and an enigma to science."

"It's called being an athlete. I'm constantly active."

"All you've done is walk for fifteen minutes," Joe argues, but concedes to Fred's request to find food. "Let's check out this street market over here. Maybe _The Book_ will be there."

"When is it ever that easy?"

Joe ignores Sam snarky comment and leads them into a street market. Stalls selling everything from clothes to food to art line the narrow street. Vendors shout at anyone walking by to come look at their goods. All of them claim to have the cheapest prices and highest quality in the whole city. Each stall is vibrantly coloured, causing passersby to take a second look, but at seeing the items that are being sold, walk away quickly before the seller can lure them in.

It doesn't take long for Fred to sniff out the food section. Shoving past Joe and Sam, he scurries down the sidewalk in search of the intoxicating smell. His stomach growls louder and louder with every step he takes. "I'm going to eat every piece of food that I see."

Joe and Sam have to practically run to keep up with him. The desire for food gives Fred an almost unnatural speed. They soon find the source of the smell. A stand selling fresh baked bread waits patiently for its next customer, a timid-looking girl stands behind the counter. Unlike the other vendors, she doesn't call out to the people passing by. She merely waits on her stool, knowing the smell of bread alone will draw in customers.

Fred charges into the stand. The girl jumps, covering her face, and shaking.

"Your food smells incredible! I want to eat it all." Fred nearly starts drooling at the sight of a baguette resting on top of the counter.

The girl peeks out from behind her hands. "You're not going to hurt me?"

"No." Fred tilts his head, momentarily distracted from the food. "Why would I do that?"

"You just came here so fast. I thought-" She shakes her head, any fear falling away. She beams at Fred, now ready to be a hard-bargaining vendor. "Never mind, you want all of my bread? You can have it. Fifty francs."

"Fifty what?" Fred scratches his head, confused by what the girl is asking and by the smell of bread muddling his thoughts. "I don't think I have that."

"Then no sale." The girl pulls the baguette off the table and out of Fred's sight. "Please leave so people who actually have money can come here."

"Sorry, miss." Joe is late to the conversation, but can tell what happened. "We're a little short on cash right now. But we do have something we can trade."

The girl lifts her eyebrow, and motions for him to continue.

"You see, we're performers." Joe whips out a deck of cards, something he always has on him. Fred and Sam groan behind him, knowing exactly where this is going. "I'll do a magic trick, and you give us free bread. Sound like a deal?"

The girl pauses, considering her options. She looks into Joe's eyes and opens her mouth.

And spits in his face. "I can't live off of stupid magic tricks, boy. Find somewhere else to get your food."

Joe grimaces and hurriedly wipes the spit off his cheek, gagging in the process. The trio walks away. "Well, she was rude."

"Dude, when will you learn no one likes your silly card tricks?" Fred snickers.

"They're not silly. They're-"

Joe's cut off by a raucous clanging at the end of the street. Shouts fill the air as three people dash out from behind a stall and sprint down the street, right towards the boys. It's hard to get a good look at them. They slip through the crowd with ease, as if this is an everyday occurrence for them. They wear dull clothes that are clearly not in style. No one gets a good look at their faces and they are dressed in black cloaks to hide any distinguishing features.

Well-built, burly men jump out after them. "Thieves! Stop them!" They encourage the crowd to apprehend the runners, but no one steps forward, too stunned to do anything but gawk. They thunder down the market, shoving anyone who gets in their way and even some who don't.

The supposed thieves burst through the crowd, moving forward with their escape with ease. A blast of air whips across the trio's faces, and they are suddenly pushed against a wall. One of them turns back to yell a quick, "Sorry!" temporarily revealing a feminine face with emerald green eyes before dashing around the corner and out of the boys' sight.

"What in the…" Fred trails off. "I'm not crazy, right? You guys saw that too?"

Both Joe and Sam nod, like Fred and the rest of the shoppers they are stunned and confused. They each groan and step away from the wall, rubbing sore shoulders and necks.

Fred pats his pocket, noticing a lump that was not there two minutes ago. "Uh, what is this?" He pulls out a small, but heavy, black bag. Opening it up, he finds several coins made of pure gold piled up inside. His teeth clench. "Oh, no."

"You there, halt!" A booming voice barks at them. "You are under arrest for stealing from the royal Paris treasury."

The trio takes one glance at each other, and knows exactly what to do next. "Run."


	4. A Familiar Situation

A bullet wizzes past the boys' heads, shattering the glass store window in front of them.

Sam yelps and dives behind Fred for cover. "Gee, thanks," Fred grumbles. "Glad to know I'm your favourite meat shield."

"Just keep running!" Joe pushes Fred and Sam forward. The last thing he wants is an argument to break out and prevent them from escaping. "Fred, why do you have a bag of gold?"

"I don't know!" They slip around a corner, barely dodging a crowd of people. The guards are still on their tails, and slam through the crowd without so much as an apology. "I don't remember stealing it. And I think I would remember stealing something like this." Fred holds up the heavy bag that magically appeared in his pocket moments ago, and tucks it away in his pants again. "At least we know we're in Paris now."

"We just need to find someplace to hide and lay low for a bit. Keep moving."

The trio runs down the streets of Paris, startling every pedestrian they pass. The shouts of the guards continue to follow them as they run. Joe spots a gap in between two buildings. He slips into it with ease, pulling Fred and Sam in with him. Their feet continue to pound the pavement as they bolt down the alley. They're forced to run in a single file line, and still their shoulders graze the walls.

Joe winces as the brick tears at his clothes, pulling fabric and skin off. He feels a warm liquid drip down his arm. As much as he wants to stop, he doesn't. He can't.

Another bullet blasts through the air. Flakes of mortar fall into the boys' eyes. Sam yelps, stumbles into Fred, and they both fall to the ground. Fred reaches for Joe in an attempt to catch himself, but only manages to pull Joe down with them. They slam into the earth.

The trio doesn't even have time to groan before they're pulled to their feet and find themselves face to face with five furious guards.

"You three are under arrest for theft, attempt to avoid capture, and assault of a royal guard." The guard huffs, taking a moment to lean against the wall. He has to pant between every word. "You are to be taken to prison forthwith, and to be tried in three days' time."

"Assault? We didn't assault anyone. And we didn't steal anything either!" Fred struggles and fails to get out of the guards' unrelenting grip.

The guards holding Fred rummage through Fred's pockets, pulling out the bag of gold coins. He shoves it into his own pocket. "Then how did you come into the possession of this? Did it magically appear in your hands?"

"You didn't get rid of it?" Sam shrieks at the same time Fred says, "Yes!"

The guards exchange raised eyebrows and chuckles. Their humor is short-lived. They shove the boys in front them, holding their guns to the back of their heads. "Nice try, boy. Now shut up, and come with us. Any more crazy-talk, and we'll lock you up in the looney-bin."

* * *

Joe, Sam, and Fred are unceremoniously dumped into a prison cell. It's dark and crowded, three other bodies already occupy the space. There's only one window, but it's too small for more than one person to see out of at a time. "You lunatics are going to wait here until your trial. And no more talk of magic!"

"But I didn't take the stupid- forget it." Fred crosses his arms and lets out a harsh breath of air. "Why does this always happen to us? We never even do anything wrong. I mean, how many times have we been thrown into jail?"

"And to think, if you had just listened to me, we could still be sitting in Joe's bedroom eating birthday cake." Sam glares at Fred. "Who knows if we'll ever find _The Book_ now?"

Fred sticks his tongue out at Sam.

Joe sighs, sits back against the wall, and thinks through the situation. He hadn't meant for this to happen. All he wanted was to find his Uncle Joe. Why would _The Book_ take him to old France to find his uncle? There must be something he's missing. But what?

"Why is it always my fault whenever we warp?" Fred and Sam's argument drags on in the background.

"Um, because it is?"

"That's not true. It's been Joe's fault at least three times."

"But you-"

A sharp voice cuts them off, "Will you two shut up? It's bad enough I must rot away in a prison cell. The last thing I want is to hear two morons fighting." The voice comes from a few cells down. "I shouldn't even be in here anyway. Don't they know who I am?"

Another voice, this one closer, scoffs. "That's what they all say. And yet, they all end up in prison just the same."

The trio jumps, moving closer together. The new voice came from inside their cell. For the first time, they get a good look at the three other people imprisoned with them. It's three girls, all of which appear to be around the boys' age. The one sitting in the middle squints at Fred and Sam, her emerald green eyes unimpressed. "Are you two _crétins_ done? As annoying as the Comte is, he does have a point. You two are very annoying. I'm trying to get my beauty sleep."

Fred opens his mouth to respond, but shuts it quickly, taking a second look at the girl. "Hey, I know you. You're the girls who were running away from those guards. You're the ones they wanted, not us!" He pauses for a moment, the gears in his head slowly turning. "You put that bag of money in my pocket, didn't you? You're the reason we're in here!"

The girl smirks and scans Fred up and down. "So we are. What are you going to do? Have us arrested?"

Fred's fists clench, a low growl emitting from his throat. Joe swiftly slides in front of him, changing the focus of the room to him. "What my friend here is trying to say is, hi. His name is Fred. I'm Joe, and the other uh, _crétin_ is Sam. We're sort of new to the area, and we were hoping for a warmer welcome."

Another girl, with brunette hair so messy it makes it seem like she's been in prison for years, speaks up, "Well, that's obvious. Look at how you're dressed. I'm surprised they didn't drag you into an asylum." She eyes the trio with grey-blue eyes, a crease forming in her brow.

"What's wrong with our clothes?" Fred looks down at himself. He's wearing his standard jersey and blue jeans. "Not a Giants fan?"

"No."

The third girl, whose glasses seem too large for her face, but enhance the size of her hazel eyes, finally joins the conversation. "And what _our_ friend is trying to say is, it's nice to meet you. Her name is Arwen. I'm Juniper, and the girl who singlehandedly got us all arrested is Tessa."

"Wait, how did you three end up here if you escaped the guards at the market?" Joe steps forward and sits down across from the new girls.

"Forgery. Apparently, my document making skills have declined a bit. I'm a little out of practice." The girl with the green eyes, Tessa, lays her arms across her chest, like this is an everyday occurrence for her and her friends. She tosses a sly wink at Joe. "Don't worry. They can't keep us here for long. We'll be out in no time."

Joe looks away with a sudden desire to get out of the cell and away from these strangers.

"How are you so sure?" Sam raises an eyebrow at Tessa.

"Haven't you heard the rumors? Today is July fourteenth." The smallest girl, Juniper, says.

The boys stare at her with blank faces.

"Wow, just where are you three from exactly?" The blue-eyed girl, Arwen, tilts her head to the side. She hasn't looked away from the trio once.

"New York. Perhaps you've heard of it?" Fred's chest puffs up. "It's like a million miles away, but it's pretty much regarded as the greatest city in the world."

"Actually, New York City is only 5,834 kilometers away," Juniper says as if this is a well-known fact.

Again, the boys give the girls blank stares.

"Sorry, do you guys use the imperial system? Then it's 3,625 miles away." When everyone continues to stare at her, Juniper blushes and studies a chip in the wall. "Sorry."

"How do you know that?" Fred's mouth is slightly agape.

"Juniper here is our little mathmagician. She can do any math problem or number conversion in her head in thirty seconds, tops." Arwen throws a pale, muscular arm around her tiny friend. The praise only makes Juniper's cheeks redder. Her long black hair falls in front of her face, and she presses herself against the wall.

"Not that it's ever been useful," Tessa mumbles under her breath, earning a glare from Arwen. Tessa rolls her eyes, stands up, and looks out the window. She taps her long fingers along the edge, and pulls out a pocket watch, checking the time.

Without their cloaks on, the girls seem like any other Parisian citizen. Joe watches Tessa, not really knowing why, but he feels an urgent tugging in his gut, like Tessa is pulling on an invisible leash. The slim rays of sunlight reflect off her warm brown skin and make her auburn hair look more red than brown. She tosses her hair over her shoulder, and it nearly falls to her waist.

Joe's eyes are drawn to the pocket watch in her hands, trying to find the source of the tugging sensation. Something about it seems familiar to him, but he can't figure out why.

Arwen continues to talk to Juniper, trying to pry her out of her shell. Juniper's hair is as long as Tessa's, and she uses every inch of it to shield herself from view.

As soon as silence settles over the group, it's shattered by angry shouts coming from outside.

"Finally." Tessa beams.

"What's that?" Sam's fingers twitch as he backs away from the window.

"The French Revolution!" Tessa punches a fist into the air. "We are getting out of here."

"The French…" Sam's face pales to snow white. "Oh no. _Oh no_. Are we in the Bastille?"

"Where else would you be?" Arwen and Juniper stand, both look as happy as Tessa. The three girls gather by the window, clamoring to get a good look outside.

"This is bad. This is really, really bad." Sam runs to the door, rattling the bars.

"Um, why is this bad? If we're getting out, isn't that a good thing?" Fred puts his hands on his hips. "Do you want to spend the rest of your days in a tiny prison cell?"

"No! But I don't want to die either. This place is about to be stormed with soldiers."

"So?"

"And blown to pieces by canons."

"Oh."

The shouts outside gradually grow louder and louder, reaching a thunderous crescendo. A gunshot pierces the air, and all hell breaks loose.


	5. A Revolution

"Incoming!" Tessa drops to the ground.

The back wall shatters. An intense noise resounds throughout the building, knocking everyone off their feet. The acrid and sour smell of gunpowder fills the air. It's impossible to see through the thick, black smoke.

A chorus of groans and coughs rises as the smoke finally clears minutes later.

"Everyone okay?" Joe asks as he pushes himself off the ground. He looks around the cell to make sure everyone still has their limbs and heads on.

"We're good." Fred helps Sam get back on his feet.

"Oh, we're better than good," Tessa stands in front of a massive hole in the wall. The hole reveals the chaotic bloodshed happening on the ground. The grin on her face is so wide, it might split her head in two. "We're free!"

"Great. Can we go home now?" Arwen narrows her eyebrows at Tessa.

"Not yet. Our mission isn't over."

Joe joins Tessa by the hole in the wall, letting out a low whistle. He watches as the battle rages on below. Guns fire at a rapid rate. Those who don't have guns make every punch and kick count.

"Let's go girls." Tessa moves to jump outside. Arwen and Juniper get up to follow her. All three are more than happy to leave the prison cell behind.

"Wait, you're just going to leave us here?" Fred stomps over to Tessa and Joe, eyebrows knitted together. "You're the reason we're in here!"

Tessa shrugs. "If you want to come, I won't stop you. Just make sure you can keep up. We're not going to wait for you." With a wink, Tessa hops outside, landing on a ledge below.

Juniper and Arwen give the boys sympathetic looks before following Tessa out the hole.

"Now what do we do?" Sam huffs.

"We follow them." Without giving Joe or Sam a chance to argue, he jumps outside and escapes with the girls.

"All I wanted to do today was enjoy some birthday cake with my friends. Now I'm about to run headfirst into a revolution with a bunch of strangers." Sam and Joe carefully climb out of the hole and join everyone else on the ground.

Tessa smirks, watching Sam and Joe awkwardly make their way down to the street. "We need to get out of the city. It's hard to win a revolution if we get killed in the first battle. Follow us, and you should be safe."

"Should?"

The girls take off, slipping around the building with ease. The trio runs after them to keep up.

Tessa, Arwen, and Juniper seem to know the city like the back of their hands. They always know where to turn and what buildings are safe to run through. They've clearly been living in Paris their whole lives. The shrieks and booms of the fighting fuel everyone enough to run without stopping.

The group plows through the next building, bursting out into a new alley. The slam of the door catches the attention of two nearby soldiers. Already frightened from the fighting going on everywhere around them, they fire their guns without looking.

The bullets blaze through the air, heading straight for the kids.

Joe's hands fly up to protect his face, a slight tingling sensation buzzing in his palms. A scream tears out of his throat, "stop!"

The air stills. The bullets freeze in place. A haze of green covers the air.

Joe drops his hands, and the bullets fall to the ground. Everyone stares at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

"What the hell was that?" Arwen exclaims. Tessa and Juniper are clearly thinking the same thing. The girls slowly back away from the trio, mirrored expressions of fear across all their faces.

Joe's mouth open and shuts as he tries to find the words to explain himself. He never gets the chance.

"Devil!" The soldiers yell. They shakily raise their guns to fire again.

"I'll explain later." Joe pushes everyone forward. He doubts that he can pull that trick twice.

The gang flies around the corner just as another bullet zips through the air. It hits another building. Dust floats to the ground.

Shouts ring out from behind the children as they run away once more. Heavy footsteps echo off the wall. Without looking back, they know they're being followed.

"In here!" Arwen shoulders a door open, and everyone tumbles inside. With a slam, the door closes, leaving everyone in the dark. No one dares to make a sound. They wait with bated breath. The girls create a noticeable distance between them and Joe. He tries in vain to ignore it.

Fred leans his ear against the door. Several heartbeats later, thunderous stomping storms past. They wait until the shouts vanish before peaking outside. Not a single person is in sight.

"Looks like the coast is clear."

"We're almost out of the city. Let's move before there are any more… incidents." Tessa gives Joe a side-eye glance.

Ten minutes of twists and turns, and bullets flying overhead later, the six of them are safe in a field outside of Paris.

The boys collapse in a heap of exhaustion.

"I thought I was in better shape than this." Fred gulps down mouthfuls of air.

A heavy weight drops onto Joe's back, slamming him further into the ground.

"Talk. Now." Arwen presses a knife into his lower back, tearing a hole into his shirt. "What the hell was that you pulled back there? Are you a witch?"

"Easy, Arwen. We don't want to kill him." Tessa steps in front of Joe and squats down to examine his hands.

"Yeah, Arwen." Sam scrambles as far away as he can get. His hands shake as he covers up his face. "Let's go easy on him. And his friends."

Joe squirms under Arwen, making her press her knife against him harder. He groans and drops his head to the earth. This is by far the worst birthday he's ever had. He lifts his head. "I don't know what happened back there. Sometimes stuff like that just happens."

"You just happened to stop a bullet from piercing your skull?" Tessa folds her arms across her torso. "I don't buy it. Tell us what you are, or I'll send you back to the soldiers, devil. They'd love to have you put into an asylum."

"Fine, but can you please get your friend off of me first?"

Tessa nods to Arwen who rolls off of Joe's back. She sits on the ground next to him, keeping her knife tightly gripped in her fist and clearly in Joe's line of sight.

"You're going to think I'm crazy, but we're not from here. And I don't mean that we're not from Paris. We're from the future."

Reluctantly, Joe tells the girls everything, with occasional interjections from Sam and Fred, about The Book and how they ended up in Paris. The girls watch with keen eyes. They remain silent while he talks, judging his story.

"Today's your birthday?" Tessa blinks.

"That's what you took from all that?" Juniper rolls her eyes.

"Well, considering it's also my birthday… How old are you?"

"Twelve," Joe says. "You?"

"Interesting." Tessa grins, ignoring Joe's question. "So, you guys need help finding this magic book of yours. We can help with that."

"You were ready to abandon us in prison an hour ago. You just tried to kill Joe. Why are you suddenly so eager to help us?" Sam narrows his eyes at Tessa.

"The revolution always needs more people. We help you, you help us."

"You owe us for getting us arrested in the first place!" Fred tosses his arms in the air.

"We got you out." Juniper shrugs and turns to Tessa. "Should we split up? We'll cover more of the city that way."

"That is a great idea, June. Boys with boys. Girls with girls. Sound good?"

The boys never get the chance to answer. Tessa grabs onto Juniper and Arwen, pulling them over the hill and into the city.

"They're not normal." Fred scratches the back of his neck.

"Wait!" Joe runs to the hill the girls had just disappeared over. "How are we supposed to meet with each other if we find The Book?" He searches the hillside, but there's no sign of the girls anywhere.

"They're definitely reporting us to an insane asylum." Fred shakes his head. "And now we're right back where we started."

Joe sighs and rejoins his friends. The sun sits high in the sky, casting a golden glow over the city. From this distance, it's impossible to hear the screams or gunshots. If you didn't know any better, you would think it was just an average day in Paris.

"Something isn't right about those girls." Sam scrutinizes the air where the girls stood moments ago, almost as if he could still see them there. "I don't trust them."

"You don't trust anyone."

"Why would they want to split up if they clearly know the city better than us? It would be smarter to stick together." Sam stares at Joe and Fred, waiting for them to catch on to his hidden message.

They respond with blank stares.

Sam sighs, running a hand down his face. "We know for a fact they're thieves, and you just told them about the most valuable object in the universe."

"Oh." Joe's face reddens. He suddenly finds a spot on the ground very interesting. "Oops."

"Yeah," Sam scoffs. "Oops."

"We just have to find The Book before them." Fred starts off for the city. "How hard could it be? We're experienced at this."

"Famous last words," Sam mumbles under his breath, but follows Fred over the hill regardless.

Joe takes one last look in the direction the girls disappeared in before joining his friends. Together, they head into the city.

* * *

Tessa, Arwen, and Juniper stand together on top of a stone building. From here, they have a perfect view of the streets below and all the pedestrians running around, including Joe, Sam, and Fred. They silently watch as the boys make their way down the streets and alleys of Paris.

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" Arwen crosses her arms.

Tessa smirks. "Eventually. I want to see what he's capable of first. Maybe Cassius and Rowena were wrong. It wouldn't be the first time."

"The letter was misguided. You saw that trick he did earlier, right?" Juniper looks down at the trio. "He's the only reason we're not dead right now. You still think they're wrong?"

Tessa studies Joe. "So he can do a little party trick. Big deal."

"You can't do that."

Tessa growls, whipping out a large blue book with silver squiggles on the cover. She eyes it for a moment. "No, but I don't have to rely on some stupid book to get us home."

"Stupid?" Juniper snatches The Book out of Tessa's hands. "Do you pay attention at all in your lessons? This is the most powerful object in the entire space-time continuum." Juniper starts flipping through The Book, staring at it as if it were a god. She carefully traces the shimmering green ink, biting her lip as she does so. She focuses on the images rather than the words.

Arwen steps between them, hands on her hips. "This was supposed to be a simple retrieval mission, Tess. We should be heading back home by now. Cas and Rowena are going to be furious if we wait any longer. Besides, this dress is killing me." She pulls at the bodice of her blue dress. "I can barely move in this hideous thing."

"We'll be home before you know it. As soon as this Joe kid proves to me that he's the one." Tessa taps her chin, eyeing the boys as they head into a narrow alley below. "And I know the perfect test to use."

"You're not going to tear us again, are you?" Arwen wraps her arms around her stomach. "I'm still nauseous from the last one."

"No need. I can do everything from right here." Tessa cracks her knuckles, dark purple sparks flying from her fingertips. She holds her palms facedown over the alley the boys walked into. "It's showtime, ladies."

Arwen rolls her eyes. "You're going to get us in trouble."

"It's what I do best."


	6. Magic is a Girl's Best Friend

The tall, stone buildings loomed over Joe, Sam, and Fred. The streets were empty and except for a stray gunshot in the distance, Paris was completely silent. The citizens had mostly vanished into their homes. Only a few brave souls remained out on the streets, eager to volunteer in the revolution.

The boys were trying to avoid the battle. Using their knowledge from past experiences, they assumed _The Book_ would be with some famous historical figure. The problem was, every person they could think of was currently being shot at.

"Look, I get that we can't exactly be out in the middle of the battle right now, but why are we wondering around alleys like some creepy homeless guy?" Fred kicks a stray pebble down the passageway. It bounces off a wall, creating an echoing tick. "At least out there we have a chance of finding _The Book_."

"Because we need a place to hide out until they run out of bullets." Joe continues to lead the trio down the tunnel-like path. His eyes keep darting to the sky. The buildings are practically collapsing, and he doesn't want to end up like a crepe on the sidewalk.

"You're lost, aren't you?" Sam crosses his arms and shakes his head.

"No." Joe immediately answers, refusing to admit the obvious. His stubbornness only makes him walk faster.

"We've been stuck in these back streets forever. It's like we're trapped in a maze."

"And that's my fault?" Joe rolls his eyes. "You two followed me in here."

They turn a corner and see another endless stretch of alley. The buildings prevent most of the sunlight from lighting the way. They push forward on their trek through the shadows.

"Well, it is your fault that we're in Paris to begin with," Fred says pointedly.

Joe stops and turns on Fred. " _My fault_? You were the one egging me on. You wanted to warp somewhere fun, remember?"

"Why would you listen to me? It's your book. Besides, I wouldn't call the French Revolution fun. I wanted to go to Hawaii or Tahiti. That would be fun. We never do anything wild for your birthday, except time travel to the past and nearly get shot. That is not fun."

"Admit it, Joe. You wanted to warp to find your uncle Joe," Sam accuses. "Don't blame Fred for this."

Joe clenches his fists, marching down the narrowing alley. "Sorry for caring about my family. My uncle has been missing for three months, and no one is doing anything about it. And yeah, maybe I thought that since I'm a Time Page now, that this would be easy. But it isn't. Once again, I have colossally messed up using the most powerful object in the universe. Thanks for the reminder of how much I suck."

"Just read it!" Sam yells, throwing his hands in the air. " _The Book_ practically came with an easy-to-read instruction manual. Learn how to use it. Why haven't you done that already?"

"Seriously, dude," Fred joins in. "You've had this thing for two years. You should be a master time traveler by now. What was it Freddi called it? A Warp Wizard?"

Joe's jaw is so tense, it hurts. He keeps his mouth shut and focuses on getting out of the alleys. Picking up his pace, he turns another corner. Once again, a seemingly endless alleyway is before them. He grumbles under his breath.

 _How are we still trapped here?_ He thinks to himself. _Who designed this city? We should have found a way out by now. Some birthday this turned out to be._

"Great. I always dreamed I'd die of starvation before I was even born," Sam says sarcastically. "At least I got to visit Paris."

"You have weird dreams." Fred tilts his head.

Joe sighs, not even bothering to join in, but still annoyed with Sam and Fred. He doesn't have time to deal with their bickering. As much as the two argued with each other, they would never actually start fighting. The three of them were best friends after all. Having a secret time-traveling book did that to people.

Fred walks up next to Joe. "Can we take a break or something. My feet are killing me."

"I thought you wanted to get out of here." Joe glances at Fred out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, yeah, but I also want to rest for a bit."

"Which is it then?" Joe snaps. "Do you want to go home or take a break? You can't have it both ways, Fred."

"Jeez, Joe. Calm down." Fred holds his hand up defensively. "What is with you?"

"What is _with_ me? Do you have any idea what I've been through these past few months?" Joe raises his voice. A familiar tingling sensation begins to build up in his hands. "My uncle has gone missing, the one person in my life who could help me understand _The Book_ and these insane magic abilities I apparently have! On top of that, my own great-granddaughter tells me I'm destined for some sort of apocalyptic showdown with my other uncle that's going to determine the fate of the universe!"

Fred and Sam exchange glances. Sam wrings his hands. "Showdown? Joe, are you okay?"

"No!" The buzzing in Joe's hands intensifies, spreading up his arms and into his head. "I'm stressed, and maybe I am a little scared. I should know how to use _The Book_ by now, but I don't. I can barely pull off a basic card trick, let alone control the most powerful magic object in the universe. We should just let those girls steal it. They'd probably handle it better than me!"

"You really need to calm down, man." Fred and Sam stare at Joe's hands, backing away slowly. Joe won't back down. "It's not your fault."

"It isn't? Because one minute ago, it was. I'm sorry I got I us into this mess. I'm sorry I'm a terrible excuse for a magician. And I'm sorry that I can't get us out of this stupid alley!" Joe yells in frustration, slamming his glowing fist into the wall. A bright flash of green bursts out and blinds the boys.

It takes several seconds for the black spots to fade from their visions. When the trio can finally see again, they find themselves standing in front Tessa, Juniper, and Arwen. The girls stare at them through a gaping hole in the wall. The edges are still glowing a soft green.

Joe takes in a shaky breath and cradles his hand. His knuckles are bleeding, but the tingling feeling has faded.

Tessa lifts the corner of her mouth. "You're definitely the one."

"The one?" Joe raises his eyebrow at her, panting, his face still flushed. "What are you talking about?"

"Is this your book?" Tessa again ignores Joe's question and holds up a large blue book with silver markings on the cover. "We found it in our friend Lafayette's library. Which you just broke into…" She trails off, assessing the damage around her. The interior of the room appears fine, but the wall is completely destroyed.

"Yes!" Sam snatches _The Book_ out of her hands. "Let's get out of here."

"What happened?" Juniper carefully traces the rough edges of the newly formed hole. The green light has faded but the stone is still warm to the touch. She turns to Joe. "Did you do this?"

Joe looks down at his hands, flipping them over and studying them. "It was an accident. Like I said, stuff like that just happens sometimes."

A dark shadow passes over Tessa's face. "You need to learn to control yourself. You'll hurt someone, or worse. You can't be the only one of your kind. Find a teacher."

"I can't." Joe bites his lip. An awkward silence follows.

Fred looks at _The Book_ in Sam's hands. "I think it's time we head home. This has been fun and all, but I miss the safety of my bedroom. There are a lot less gunshots there."

"Right." Joe walks over to grab _The Book_ from Sam, opening it to the Transporter Page.

The girls look between Joe, Sam, and Fred, noticing the large gaps between them. "Is something wrong? You three were way friendlier with each other before."

"We're fine." The three answer simultaneously, not bothering to look at each other.

Joe clears his throat, forces a smile, and types in the information into _The Book_. Green mist slowly swirls around the trio. "Um, thanks for your help. It was nice meeting you. Sorry we couldn't hang out longer. Good luck with your revolution."

Tessa chuckles and pulls out a green glowing pocket watch. "Don't worry. We'll be seeing each other again real soon. I promise."

"What-" The green mist envelops the boys, cutting Joe off abruptly. There's a flash of green light, and the trio is whisked away to a different time.


	7. An Invitation

Joe, Fred, and Sam drop back into Joe's bedroom. Everything is exactly as they left it.

Joe rushes to put _The Book_ back in its box, slamming the lid down. He doesn't want to warp twice in one day. Turning back to Sam and Fred, he frowns. No one speaks.

Sam rocks back and forth on his heels, while Fred scratches the back of his head, letting out a quiet whistle. " _So_ , I should probably get going," Fred says. "I, uh, have some homework to do."

Joe doesn't bother to point out that they're on summer break and don't have any homework. Not that Fred would be doing homework anyway even if they did have some to do.

Sam nods. "Yeah, me too."

That, Joe could believe.

A soft knock on the door makes all the boys jump. Joe's mom blinks at their startled expressions. "Sorry. I don't mean to interrupt, but a letter just came for you, honey." She holds up a golden envelope. Joe's name is embellished in green ink on the front.

"Okay, thanks." Joe offers her a half-smile. "Just set it on my desk."

She does and quickly leaves the room after. Joe glances at the letter, but leaves it there for now. Probably just another birthday card.

"I guess I'll see you guys later then." Joe walks with Sam and Fred to the door. He opens his mouth, but no one words come to him. On his way out, he grabs the letter off the desk. A distraction for him if nothing else.

It flares to life in Joe's hands. He yelps, dropping it on the ground. Fred and Sam stare at him with raised eyebrows. Joe doesn't notice, his eyes are focused on the envelope.

Green flames curl and spread out around the envelope, revealing the letter inside. A blank gold page glistens up at him, reflecting light and creating a disco ball effect on Joe's bedroom walls.

Carefully, Joe bends down to pick it up. Despite the flames, the letter is cool to the touch. As soon as he touches it, words in green ink materialize on the page.

 _Dear Mr. Joseph Arthur,_

 _We would like to formally invite you and your closest friends to Horae Manor. A place for the magically inclined and gifted. Where people like you can learn to hone your craft._

 _We request that you join us at your earliest convenience. Time is of the essence._

 _Sincerely,_

 _WW_

"What does it say?" Fred peers over Joe's shoulder, his eyes squinting.

"It's an invitation. To a magic school." Joe reads the letter again and flips it over to the other side, but it's blank. "It doesn't really say much."

He hands the letter to Fred, who flips the card to look at both sides. "It doesn't say _anything_." He holds the card up to Joe. The green ink has vanished, showing a simple blank piece of paper.

Joe's eye narrow as he takes back the letter. The words begin to redraw themselves in the same green ink. "That's weird." He holds the letter up for Fred and Sam to see. "Do you see the words now?"

They both nod, silently reading the letter. Sam takes it out of Joe's hands. Once again, the words vanish. "Interesting. I've never seen this kind of tech before. Does it read fingerprints?" He examines the letter more closely.

Fred laughs. "It's a letter to a magic school, and you're looking for a fingerprint scanner? It's a piece of paper, not an iPhone."

A frown forms on Joe's lips. _This can't be real_ , he thinks to himself. Sure, he had magic powers, but were there others like him? He taps his fingers on his thigh.

 _"You need to learn to control yourself. You'll hurt someone, or worse. You can't be the only one of your kind. Find a teacher."_ Tessa's words echo in Joe's mind. He did need to learn how to control his powers. Maybe if he got good enough, he could find his Uncle Joe. Or maybe the people running this place knew his uncle.

He stares at the letter. It seems real. Taking it back from Sam, he looks for an address or information on how to RSVP. "How am I supposed to respond to this?"

"You're going?" Sam blinks.

Joe can't help the smile that appears on his face. "It's a magic school, Sam. An actual school for magic. You saw what I did in Paris. Don't you think I should learn how to control that?" He glances down at the letter again. "And you guys can come too."

"Why would we go?" Fred crosses his arms. "It's bad enough we have to go back to school in the fall. Why would we want to give up the rest of our summer break? Besides, magic is your thing. You're the one with a magic time-traveling book."

"Because this is really cool?"

"Fair enough."

Sam groans. "Didn't we just go through this? Bad things happen when we mess with magic."

"That's why we have to go learn about it." Joe grins and puts his arm around Sam's shoulder. "Think about it, Sam. No more accidental warps."

Sam clenches his jaw, knowing he's already lost. "I'm not going to win this argument, am I?"

Joe's smile falters as he realizes he has no way of contacting whoever sent the letter. The mysterious WW. "I still don't know how to respond. There's no return address. Anyone know how to write a magical letter?"

Fred and Sam both shake their heads.

Joe frowns and holds up the letter. "Maybe I just… respond?" He awkwardly clears his throat. "My friends and I accept your invitation."

Nothing happens. No more green flames appear. The words remain the same.

"Maybe it's broken?" Fred offers.

"I- _ah_!" Green flames spread over the letter without warning. This time, Joe holds on. As the flames spread out, he feels no pain. The fire vanishes as quickly as it appeared. New text fills out the page.

 _Thank you for your quick response, Mr. Arthur._

 _In one week, you will be taken to Horae Manor. Please be prepared to leave promptly._

 _We look forward to meeting and working with you._

 _Sincerely,_

 _WW_

Joe flashes his teeth in a bright grin. "Guys, we're going to magic school."


	8. Horae Manor

One week later…

Joe, Sam, and Fred are gathered in Joe's bedroom, standing in the same spot where Joe opened his letter from Horae Manor and the mysterious WW. Joe rereads the letter for the hundredth time. He can't believe this is happening to him. He'd be lying if he said he never fantasized about being whisked away to a magic school before. This was a dream come true for him. There was only one problem.

"How are we supposed to get there?" Sam crosses his arms. "Are they picking us up? Or were we supposed to buy plane tickets?"

Joe scratches the back of his head. "I'm not sure. The letter only says to be prepared to leave promptly in a week. I assume someone's coming to get us. That's what I told my mom at least."

The boys had invented the lie that one of Joe's relatives had paid for them all to go to a summer camp for the last few weeks of summer break. They would all be back in time to start school again in the fall. If they ever left in the first place. Joe's bedroom was crowded with luggage.

"Should we be waiting outside?" Fred glances out the window. The streets below are empty. No one appears to be coming.

"Look, I don't have the answers, okay? I'm just hoping things will work out like they always do." Joe glares at his two best friends, a buzzing building up in his head. "And I'd appreciate it if you two would stop nagging me about it."

Sam and Fred exchange worried looks. "No one's nagging you about anything, dude."

"Kinda seems like you are."

Fred and Sam decide not to push the subject anymore. The trio continues to stand around the room in silence, awkwardly shuffling their feet every now and then. Five minutes go by, then ten, then twenty.

Joe can't remember a time when things were this tense among the three of them. For as long as he can remember, they've been best friends, inseparable. He felt bad for snapping at them, but he was under a lot of pressure. Receiving a letter to go to a magic school was not normal. Even with his life. All he could do was hope that things would go back to normal soon enough. He would go to this Horae Manor, study magic, become a master magician, and find his Uncle Joe. If he had to have some epic showdown with his evil uncle along the way, then so be it. Joe could handle it. As long as he became a master magician first. A Warp Wizard.

"Maybe I'm supposed to warp there? Like some sort of test?" Joe digs through his backpack to pull out The Book and begins flipping through the pages. He had searched through it in depth over the past week, desperate to find any information on Horae Manor. Of course, there was nothing. The Book had a tendency to reveal information at its own pace.

"Or maybe that letter will burst into flames again and give us some directions." Sam wrinkles his nose at the golden letter, as if it were to blame for all his problems.

"Where's your sense of adventure, Sam?" Fred lightly nudges Sam's shoulder. "Joe's finally taking your advice and learning how to use The Book. At least be happy about that."

"Why did he need to drag me into it?"

Joe barely hears them, he's too focused on the letter. There must be something he's missing. A secret code? An invisible button?

With a heavy sigh, he drops the letter to the ground. Maybe this was all some stupid prank from one of those kids who liked to tease him at school because he was into magic tricks. Horae Manor doesn't exist. There's no such thing as a magic school in real life.

Joe would never find his uncle. If nothing happened in the next fifteen minutes, he would give up.

The letter gracefully floats toward the ground and settles on the floor.

A sharp cracking noise snaps through the silence and a blazing white light fills the room. Blinking away the black spots dancing in front of their eyes, the trio watches as a violet oval appears and floats in the air before them. Purple sparks and small lightning bolts dance around the edges of the oval. The outline is jagged, as if someone ripped the shape out of a piece of paper. The violet oval reveals nothing.

"Let me guess, we have to walk through the mysterious purple portal?" Sam rolls his eyes. "Why couldn't they just send a car? I'm not walking through anything that's shooting off lightning bolts."

"I don't think you have a choice." Joe tentatively walks around what he assumes is a portal of some kind. It's two-dimensional, and if he stands in the right spot, he can't see it all. But when he moves to the other side, it reappears and looks identical to the front side. "Do you think it's safe?"

"No," Sam says at the same time Fred says, "Sure."

"Oh, come on. They wouldn't send us some death portal." Fred grabs his bag off the floor. "Let's get going." With a grin, he jumps through the oval without waiting for Joe and Sam. It swallows him whole.

Sam scratches the back of his neck. "Well, it didn't look like it hurt…" He slips his hand into the portal and pulls it back out. "It kind of tingles." He looks at Joe. "Should we go?"

"After you." Joe waves his arms in a grand gesture towards the portal.

With a shake of his head, Sam grabs his luggage and steps through the oval.

Left alone in his room, Joe pauses to glance at all of his belongings, the old photos on the wall, his favourite Houdini poster… All of it feels like it belongs to a different person now. He looks back at the portal. A thousand questions spun around in his head. There was only one way to answer them.

He slings on his backpack, feeling the weight of The Book against his back, and grabs the invitation off the floor. "Here I go." Taking a deep breath, Joe steps into the purple portal.

And out into a place of wonder. Joe instantly knows he is no longer on Earth.

The portal behind him disappears, but he barely notices, too distracted by the sight in front of him. His eyes are first drawn to the sky. It bears no resemblance to the bright blue sky he's used to. This sky is a mix of indigo, violet, navy, black, and pink. The colors blend together forming clouds that look like an artist's palette. Silver stars shine brighter than diamonds. A shooting star streaks across the sky, leaving a trail of neon green in its wake. An ivory moon, larger than the one on Earth, looms low over the ground.

Under the cosmos, grass sprawls out in a great field. Patches of multicolored flowers sprinkle the yard. Off to the side, a series of small pools of water flow into several slim streams. The water reflects the sky and the stars floating high above and sparkles in the golden moonlight. The streams weave around the ground and flow directly off the edge of the land. The round plot of land he is standing on is floating over nothingness. It's surrounded by space on all sides.

Joe's eyes drift over the expansive building in front of him. Horae Manor. The manor is as intimidating as it is inviting. It's three stories tall and wide enough to cover a football field. The lights attached to the columns around the entrance create a warm, welcoming glow. The columns, as well as the rest of the building, are completely made of white marble. Grand windows dot the sides, but are shaded so that no one can see inside them. A semi-circular balcony hangs over the front door.

Joe is entranced by the view. The house, the sky, the fact that he was standing on a massive floating rock, is almost too much for him to take in. He steps forward, desperate to go inside. The manor dares him to discover its secrets.

"What took you so long?"

Joe jumps at the sudden voice. He twists around to find Sam and Fred standing behind him. Fred has a toothy grin on his face, while Sam's mirrors Joe's expression of wonderment.

"Where are we?" Sam stares at the sky, spinning around to get the full view. He notices the edge of the world and blinks in surprise. "This can't be real. Where on Earth could this place exist?"

"Not on Earth." Joe turns back to the house. "I don't think we're even in the same galaxy as Earth."

"Well, what are we waiting for? We have to go inside." Fred steps up, pulling Joe and Sam with him. "Let's go make some magic!"

The trio grabs their bags and moves up to the front doors. In the center of the tan wood, a sigil shaped like a clock face is carved. Roman numerals circle the outside of it, but at the center lies a green hourglass. Staring closely, Joe notices the grains of sand are actually spilling into the bottom half, and the clock hands slowly tick their way through time. Somehow, this wooden carving is functioning.

Joe grins to himself. Magic.

Equally spaced out within the clock face, rest four circles, each with a different symbol inside. In the top circle, an odd green geometric shape is carved into the doors. It shows a small diamond shape trapped inside a larger square, with the corners of the diamond, touching the sides of the square. A cross runs through both shapes, connecting them to the outline of the circle. On the bottom of the clock, directly above the Roman numeral VI, is a similar, but different purple geometric shape. It's the reverse of the one above it. In this one, a small square is fitted inside a diamond, with a cross running through both of them and connecting them to the circle surrounding the shape. On the right side of the clock face, a symbol Joe has never seen before is shown in the circle. It resembles a cross tipped over on its side, with a ring attached the left tip. It is a slightly darker shade of silver than the other symbol on the left side of the clock face. This other symbol is also completely unfamiliar to Joe. Like the other one, it resembles a cross, but this one is standing straight up, and the ring is attached to the top and two curved lines stick out. On the bottom, a downward bent line is attached.

"Are you going to knock, or…" Fred pokes Joe in the shoulder, snapping him back into the present.

"Yeah, sorry." Ignoring the urge to stare at the image in the doors some more, Joe reaches out and firmly knocks. A chill goes down his spine. This is it. He was on his way to becoming a wizard.

It takes a moment, but eventually, the doors swing wide open. A pair of smiling faces greets the boys on the other side.

They speak in unison, "Welcome to Horae Manor, Joseph Arthur. We've been expecting you."

Joe's heart skips a beat. He rushes inside, eyes lighting up and taking in every single thing in the foyer. It's a grand entrance, complete with a broad staircase, a crystal chandelier, towering columns, and statues standing guard along the walls. The whole room was bathed in a golden light. He couldn't wait to explore the rest of the manor.

He spins back around to the people who greeted him. A man and a woman stand in the doorway, watching Joe with soft smiles. They both look to be in their mid-thirties. Their glowing eyes immediately draw him in. The man's eyes are a startlingly bright green, while the woman's are a dark violet, matching the color of the sky outside.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions," the man says. "Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Cassius, and this," he gestures to the woman next to him, "is my partner, Rowena. We are the current Warp and Aether Wizards, and we're here to guide you into the world of magic."


	9. Strange Places, Familiar Faces

Joe places the last of his clothes in the dresser in his new room for the summer. Rowena and Cassius had sent the boys upstairs to pick out their rooms, telling them that they would explain everything at dinner later that night. Joe had never been more excited for a meal.

The room he picked out was like every other room in the manor. It was about the size of his bedroom back home, a little bigger maybe. It had a bed, a walk-in closet, a private bathroom, a dresser, a desk, and a fireplace. What made his room unique was the view; because his room had a glass ceiling. The room was shaped like a dome with glass walls all around. It gave him a perfect view of the celestial sky. A view he would never get tired of seeing.

Fred and Sam had picked out their own rooms just a few doors down the hall. Joe hadn't looked into them too much but knew that Fred had found what was probably the largest room in the manor. It had enough room to fit half a basketball court inside.

Sam's room was much more modest. Closer to Joe's in size, but his had a separate area containing a massive desk and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.

Joe smiles to himself, knowing it was no coincidence that the rooms were perfect for each of them. They were told they could decorate and customize them as much as they wanted to, but Joe didn't see any reason why he'd want to change anything.

A soft knock on the door catches Joe's attention. He swivels around to find Sam and Fred standing in his doorway and invites them inside with a wave of his hand.

Studying his room with wide eyes, Fred lets out a low whistle. "Nice. Dude, how awesome is this place?"

"It's better than I ever imagined."

"Don't you think it's a little quiet?" Sam raises an eyebrow. "Where are all the other students?"

"I'm sure they're around." Joe shrugs. "Have you seen how big this place is? We'll probably meet them all at dinner."

"Speaking of dinner." Fred places his hands over his stomach as it begins to grumble. "I'm starving. Let's go find the cafeteria already."

* * *

To no one's surprise, the dining hall is as magnificent as the rest of the manor. The expansive room is painted in warm red and gold, with ivory statues dotting the walls. The ceiling, twenty feet in the air, displays a marvelous mural with pictures of people, clocks, space, and countless magical images. A welcoming fireplace rests on the far side of the room on the opposite side of the dining table. Despite the room's size, there are only eight seats spaced around the empty table.

"Guess we're early?" Joe looks to Fred and Sam and shrugs.

"On the contrary, you're right on time." Seemingly out of nowhere, Cassius appears behind the trio. He winks at Joe. "But that's no surprise, is it?" Cassius quickly trots down the few steps and heads over to the dining table. He takes a seat at the head of the table.

Not knowing what else to do, Joe, Sam, and Fred follow Cassius to the table. They sit in three empty seats on the left side of the table.

"I must apologize for Ro. She's not the best at keeping track of time." Cassius chuckles to himself, knowing a joke the boys don't. "She and the girls will be here shortly. And then we can answer all your questions and give you a proper introduction."

Joe nods, at a loss for words. He takes advantage of the quiet to really look at Cassius. Again, his eyes are the first thing Joe notices. The bright green color is not natural in any way. Cassius's darkly tanned skin only makes them stand out more. His hair is a curly mess. The black strands frame his face and reach down to his neck. His beard is more controlled, lining his jaw and mouth. Even sitting, Cassius looks tall. His body is fairly slim, but his arms look muscular enough to defend himself in a fight.

All in all, Joe thinks he looks pretty normal. Even his clothes, a black denim jacket over a grey t-shirt and grey-blue jeans with a pair of grey converse on his feet, are ordinary. Joe never would have guessed he was a wizard.

The silence is finally broken as Rowena steps into the room. She makes her way to the table and sits on the end opposite of Cassius. "Sorry, I'm late. Though I see I'm not the last person to arrive." She stares pointedly at the three empty seats left at the table and sighs. "Why am I not surprised?"

Like with Cassius, Joe is surprised at how normal Rowena looks. Other than her glowing violet eyes, she would pass as an average human. She's just as tanned as Cassius. Her shoulder length hair is maroon. Though she's not as tall as Cassius, she is just as fit.

"Relax, Ro. They'll be here soon. Besides, they don't need to hear the welcome speech again. Why don't we just get started without them?"

"I suppose." Rowena shakes her head and turns to the trio. "I apologize for my apprentice. She tends to run on her own schedule. Something that will have to change now that you're here. Teamwork isn't her specialty."

Joe blinks. "Um, who?"

Rowena dismissively waves her hand. "Your aether partner. I'm sure she'll want to introduce herself."

"My what?" Joe is lost. He can feel his head buzzing again. "I'm sorry, but I have no idea what's going on. Last week, I got a random letter inviting me to come to some magic school. You didn't exactly make it easy to get here either, and now that I'm finally here, all you're doing is giving me more questions than answers! Can someone please tell me what's going on already?"

Rowena and Cassius stare at him.

"Sorry, about him. He's been having a lot of outbursts lately," Fred nervously chuckles. "He's been under a lot of stress."

Cassius grins. "I'm afraid that's our fault actually. Your invitation sort of got lost in the mail. You should have been here months ago. Those outbursts you've been having are a result of not having your magic activated. Let me guess, you've been having headaches? Does your head feel like it's buzzing?"

Joe nods, gingerly touching the side of his head.

"Don't worry, that'll be fixed soon." Cassius reaches over and pats Joe on the shoulder. "You and I are going to have so much fun together. There's a lot you have to learn, and unfortunately we don't have a lot of time left."

"What do you mean?"

"Cassius…" Rowena shoots him a warning look. "Not now. There's no need to worry them. Besides, there's a lot you need to cover first."

"Of course." Cassius glances at the three empty chairs. "Well, I guess there's no point in waiting any longer. Let's get started, shall we?"

With a snap of his fingers, Cassius summons a full three-course meal that fills out the entire table.

The boys' mouths quickly start to water. They haven't eaten all day and every piece of food in front them looks incredibly delicious. Everything from steak to bread rolls to steaming bowls of corn lays out on the table.

The trio doesn't hesitate. They immediately pile food onto their plates and shove it into their mouths.

"Oh, man. This is _so_ good. Is every meal like this?" Fred asks with flakes of food flying out of his mouth.

Cassius laughs. "Oh, yes. And if you have any special requests, feel free to ask. We can summon any kind of food here."

Joe momentarily forgets about his problems and questions, his stomach doing all the thinking for him. This is arguably the most amazing food he's ever had. He could get used to this. Maybe things won't be so bad after all. He doesn't even care that this mysterious partner of his wasn't here. More food for him. After the chaos of the past week, this moment of peace was nice.

But of course, peace can't last forever.

The quiet shatters as a bright flash of purple fills the room followed by a cacophony of arguing voices. A portal identical to the one the boys used to travel to Horae Manor is revealed as the purple light fades. Three small figures fall through it and land in a pile on the floor.

The largest one, a bulky, brunette girl, pulls away, spinning back around to yell at another one. "What was that?"

Another figure, also a girl, but smaller in stature and possessing startling purple eyes, sneers back in response. "That was me saving us, again, because you got us in trouble, again."

"You opened a tear and dropped us in the middle of a firefight! What was I supposed to do, not fight back?"

The last figure, the smallest of the girls, crawls away from the other two, her arms shaking as she moves. "Um, girls? Can't we just be happy we're alive?"

She's ignored.

"You're lucky I didn't tear you into a deep hole," the purple-eyed one says.

"I'm going to tear you," the blonde one responds.

"Girls!" Rowena shouts, abruptly ending their argument.

The three girls shuffle to their feet, as if they just now noticed they weren't alone.

"Oh, hello. Are we late?" The purple-eyed girl batts her eyelashes, folding her arms behind her back. "So sorry. We lost track of time."

Rowena smirks. "Unfortunately, that's the last time you'll be able to use that excuse." She gestures to the trio. "Would you like to introduce yourselves? I know you've already met, but a proper introduction would be polite."

Joe's head tilts to the side as he squints at the girls. Had he met them before? They did look familiar, but he thinks he would have remembered someone with purple eyes.

She's the first to step forward. "Hello again, Joe. I told you we would meet again, and here we are. How are you liking Horae Manor so far?"

"I-" Joe stutters. How did this girl know his name?

The girl pouts, throwing her hands on her hips. "Don't tell me you don't remember me? Some warp partner you are."

Rowena loudly clears her throat, shooting the pouting girl a pointed stare.

The girl sighs. "Fine. Let's just start over then. My name is Tessa," she begins, almost bored. "I am the future aether wizard, spirit of tin, warrior and guardian of space." She raises a brow at Rowena. "Good enough?"

Rowena's lips turn down. "We'll talk later."

Tessa groans and mumbles something under her breath.

The smallest of the girls slips in front of Tessa. "Sorry about last time, guys. We didn't really have a choice." She glances sidelong at Tessa. "But in case you forgot, my name is Juniper, but you can call me June."

"And I'm Arwen," the blonde girl steps forward. "Ari for short."

The trio continues to stare blankly at the girls. They glance at each other for help, but it's obvious that none of them recognize the girls.

"Seriously?" Arwen crosses her arms. "You really don't remember us? It's only been one week!"

"Technically, it's been 218 years… and one week," Juniper says.

Arwen's eyes roll to the back of her head. "Nothing? Paris ring a bell? You stopped a bullet from flying through our skulls, but for whatever reason Tessa wasn't impressed by that so she tricked you into-"

"That's enough, Arwen." Tessa cuts her off. "I think they remember now."

Joe's mind races, trying to push through the confusion. These couldn't be the same girls they met in Paris. Joe, Sam, and Fred are the only people with the ability to time travel that he knew of. Of course, his crazy Uncle Jack managed to get around time somehow. And Sam's great-granddaughter, Samantha, had that pocket watch. But even in those cases it was still limited to family and close friends. How many time travelers are there in the world? Are there any others at this school?

Joe studies the girls once more. They did look familiar. If he pictured them in French revolutionary garb, he could definitely see the resemblance. But there's still one thing Joe can't get past.

"But your eyes," He finally manages to get out. The girl he met in Paris had bright green eyes, not purple.

Tessa blinks, her violet irises dark and alluring. "Well, I can't exactly blend in with eyes like these, now can I?" She tilts her head to the side, a small grin appearing on her lips. "I wear contacts when I visit non-magical lands."

"Well, I guess that makes- wait. Did you just say _non-magical_ lands?" Fred leans over the table, almost falling out of his seat. "Are there _magical_ lands out there?"

"Have you looked around? You're in one." Arwen shakes her head and moves towards the dining table. She takes a seat directly across from Fred. "Not the bright one of the bunch, are you?"

Fred opens his mouth to respond, but never gets the chance.

"You three look filthy." Rowena's eyes trace the girls up and down. "Could you at least wash your hands and change your clothes before dinner?"

The girls all glance down at their hands and clothes. To Rowena's point, they are all dirty, and their clothes look like they belong in the sixteenth century. With a few grumbles, the girls leave the room, hungrily staring at the food as they go.

As soon as they're gone, Rowena returns her attention to the boys. "Now, where were we?"

Cassius speaks, "I was just about to give these boys a crash course in why they're here. I'm sure they're eager to know."

The trio nods emphatically. Cassius has their full attention.

"When there is more time, we will give you the full history of Horae Manor and Warp and Aether Wizards. Unfortunately, we are running on a tight schedule at the moment. You'll have a big day tomorrow when we have you awakened." Joe opened his mouth to ask Cassius what he meant, but Cassius cut him off with a wave of his hand. "Save all questions until the end, please."

Joe sets his hand back down and resumes eating his meal, never taking his eyes from Cassius.

"To begin, you are eighty-second in a long line of magical peace keepers that have been watching over the space-time continuum for over five thousand years. Horae Manor was established by the inaugural couple as a place for future Warp and Aether Wizards to hone their skills and serve as a base of operations for all their missions. It holds many secrets. Good luck discovering them all." Cassius winks at the trio.

Rowena picks up the conversation, "You were selected thousands of years ago to be the next Warp Wizard, and Tessa was also chosen to be the next Aether Wizard. Every Warp and Aether Wizard was chosen from the start. Soon, you will see things you never could have dreamed of, and you will be capable of the most impressive of magical acts."

"When do I get to start?" Joe interrupts her. His eyes are wide with excitement. He couldn't wait to learn magic. Actual magic, not some silly card trick or pulling a rabbit out of a hat. He almost had to pinch himself. He had to dreaming. Everything had changed the moment he received his invitation from Horae Manor. Joe had started a new life.

Cassius chuckles. "Tomorrow you will be sent off to have your magical abilities awakened. I'm sure you've had a few magical moments the past few years?"

Joe nods, thinking back to how he stopped that bullet in Paris. But he had experienced magic before that. A memory played before his eyes. His screaming sister, an arrow flying towards her head, but Joe had stopped it. He didn't understand it at the time, still didn't understand it if he was being honest with himself, but he couldn't deny that he had somehow used magic.

Rowena nods as if she was expecting this. "Sometimes internal magic can manifest itself prematurely, and the user can have occasional outbursts. Don't worry, once you're awakened, you will slowly gain control over your abilities If your letter had arrived on time, we could have had you in training months ago. Unfortunately, it went to the wrong person."

"I'll say." A familiar voice rings out into the hall. "You almost had me partnered with an old man!" Tessa struts back into the room and takes a seat directly across from Joe. She leans forward. "You're definitely an improvement."

Joe nearly chokes on his food. This is the first time he's seen Tessa in modern clothes, not some historic costume. Given Rowena and Cassius' outfits, he should've expected Tessa to dress like a normal person. Still, he's surprised to see her wearing a simple outfit consisting of distressed black jean shorts, a white t-shirt, a red leather jacket, and black combat boots. The only odd thing she has on is an assortment of silver and gold necklaces with strange symbols on the pendants.

Rowena pinches the bridge of her nose. "We did not almost partner you with an old man. We knew it was a mistake immediately. Warp and Aether Wizards have always been the same age. Luckily, the man was very understanding of the situation and helped us correct it."

"I still don't understand how the letter went to the wrong person. They're supposed to be linked to the individual's time signature." Cassius strokes his beard for a moment before shaking his head. He looks at Joe. "Guess you two must have extremely closely linked signatures. Still, I don't believe that has ever happened before."

The conversation abruptly ends as Juniper and Arwen rejoin the others at the dining table. They sit on either side of Tessa. Like their friend, they too have changed into more appropriate clothing. Juniper sports an oversized lilac hoodie and grey jeans with beige sneakers on her feet. As soon as she sits down, her shoulders slump forward and her hair falls over her face. Despite her attempt to hide herself, Joe notices her studying him, Fred, and Sam.

Arwen relaxes into her chair. Despite her boyish appearance, she sits with a regal air about her. She wears a red and white baseball tee with a large, red B printed on the center and has on light blue jean shorts and grey sneakers. She immediately piles food onto her plate.

Joe returns his attention to Cassius. "So, what exactly should I be preparing for tomorrow?"

"Your awakening. You and your friends, along with Tessa, Arwen, and Juniper, will journey to Caelus to bring your magical powers to life." He winks. "It's very exciting. You should be back here within three days."

"But what is an awakening? Like, what do I have to do?" Joe turns to Rowena, hoping for a better answer.

"All you have to worry about is getting there. The All Father will take care of the rest." Rowena smiles and a warm, calming feeling washes through Joe. The tension he didn't realize he was holding in his shoulders vanished.

"Who's the All Father?" Fred speaks through a mouth-full of food, spraying bits everywhere, including Arwen's face. "Oops. My bad."

Her hands stiffly wipe away the crumbs. "The All Father is the man who started all this. He's as old as time itself."

"Because he _is_ time itself." Juniper hands her friend a napkin. "He's one of the most powerful and knowledgeable people in the universe, if not the most."

"And we'll get to meet him?" Sam's eyes sparked with interest at hearing an opportunity to meet another intellectual.

"Well, _you_ won't. He's very picky about who he lets in. As in, fellow magic users only. It's a shame too, he's a super nice guy." Tessa smirks, and tosses a piece of bread in her mouth. "My awakening was incredible. I wish I could feel that rush again."

"Rush?" Joe raised an eyebrow.

"It's the best feeling you'll ever have." Tessa's smirk widens into a grin. "Assuming it doesn't kill you, of course."


	10. The First Mission

Magical sunrises or not, getting up before the sun is in the sky sucks.

Joe stretches his arms out in front of him, letting out a huge yawn. He knew this was an important day. Cassius had stressed how key his awakening will be for his magic training. Not to mention how much better Joe would feel afterwards. He couldn't wait for these headaches to go away. He'd barely gotten any sleep last night because of them. Though in fairness, it could also have been his excitement for today's adventure.

His glass ceiling gave him a perfect view of the sunrise. The windows were dimmed enough that the light didn't blind him, but still allowed him to see the natural beauty of this strange world. The streaks of pink, orange, and purple slowly faded into a crystal blue sky. Only a few smears of green remained.

Joe slips out of bed and quickly gets dressed for the day. He has no idea what to expect and hopes he's dressed appropriately. Walking out into the main hall, Joe finds most of the others already gathered.

"So, we're really the only students at this school?" Sam asks. He, Arwen, and Juniper are immersed in conversation.

The girls both nod, but Juniper is the one who answers. "It used to house hundreds of students, but Rowena said that they had to shut most of the school down several years ago. Now, it's just for future Warp and Aether Wizards and their companions. But each Wizard is only allowed to bring three people with them. They really want to minimize the amount of people here."

"Why?"

Fred stands off to the side, eyes drifting over the room. He spots Joe and waves him over. "I am so glad you finally showed up, dude. Sam's been nerding out all morning."

"I'm trying to learn about our new home." Sam crosses his arms and narrows his eyes at Fred. "Maybe you should too since you're the one who wanted to come here in the first place."

Fred puts his arms behind his head. "It's a magic school on a magic planet with magic students. What else is there to know?"

Sam groans and looks to Joe for help, who rolls his eyes in response. It's too early to deal with Sam and Fred's drama. Instead, he scans around the room. "Where's Tessa?" he asks, noting that she's the only one missing.

"Sorry I'm late." Tessa struts into the room, almost as if she was waiting for her name to be announced. She yawns and rolls out her shoulders. "Ro and Cas wanted to squeeze in some last-minute training, and toss in a lecture or two," she mumbles the last sentence under her breath. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Tessa whips out a golden piece of metal from her belt, juts it out in front of her, and a white blade slices through the air. The metal sings as she waves it around, carving intricate patterns into the air. The golden handle, designed to look like shooting stars, wraps perfectly around her hand. The white blade extends almost three feet away from her. The gold design continues onto the blade of the sabre, shooting stars decorating it all the way to the tip.

The trio jumps away in unison, a mix of emotions on their faces. Sam is terrified, while Joe and Fred are much more curious about the weapon. "What's that?" they ask together.

"My Focus?" Tessa holds up her sabre. "It helps me control my tears. Wouldn't be very good if I tore this entire planet to the middle of the desert."

"What's a tear?" Joe stares her weapon up and down. Would he get one of those too? He tries to imagine himself swinging a cool sword around, and finds he quite likes the idea. He wouldn't just be a Warp Wizard. He'd be a Warp Warrior.

With a smirk and quick flick of her wrist, Tessa cuts her sabre through the air. A resonating crack sounds through the hall, opening up a purple portal. It's identical to the one the girls fell through last night at dinner. " _This_ is a tear."

"A tear is Tessa's equivalent to your warps." Juniper explains. "She can rip a hole in the fabric of space-time and travel anywhere or anytime in the universe. Though her ability to travel through time isn't as strong as yours. Her strength is lateral movement."

Fred scratches the back of his neck. "Uh, last time I checked, Joe can't warp us anywhere without _The Book_."

The girls stare at Joe. "Sorry, I guess everything we know about you is theoretical from our studies. Warp Wizards are supposed to have complete control over time. I'm sure you'll get there once you start your training."

"You really can't warp without your book?" Tessa shrugs. "I guess that makes it your Focus. Shame, you could've gotten a darb weapon as your Focus." Her sabre retracts, and she places it back on her belt.

"A darb…? Nevermind." Joe crosses his arms. "My book _is_ cool. It can stop time, warp us into the past and future, and-"

"Doesn't sound like much of a weapon. And without any training, you're going to be completely defenseless on this mission." Arwen exchanges looks with Tessa. "Which is probably why we're being forced to go along."

"Mission? I thought we were just taking Joe to be awakened." Sam steps away from the portal, still waiting to transport them to their destination.

"Yeah, but we have to get there first. If this is anything like Tessa's journey to be awakened, we're in for a few good fights."

"Fights?" Sam steps back even farther. "You know, on second thought. I think I'm going to stay right here. Where it's safe, and there are no fights."

"Awesome!" Fred clamps his hand down on Sam's shoulder, making him stumble. "A little action will be good for you, Sam."

"No, a salad is good for you. A nice walk through the park is good for you. A fight is not good for you!"

"Does he do this often?" Tessa watches Sam, a small crease forming in the center of her brow. "I can't listen to this the entire trip." The other two girls nod their agreement, each one watching Sam with a nervous look on their faces.

"He lives like this," says Fred, rolling his eyes.

"Well, now we know who the fun one is in your little trio." Tessa shoots a wink at Fred. "And if you guys are ready, we need to get going. It's going to take at least a day to get there, probably two."

The girls step into the portal and silently disappear. The boys, not having much choice, follow them through. Joe and Fred, pulling Sam with them, push through the portal. The purple gateway vanishes from the room, with no trace of the kids left behind.

Joe expected walking into a tear to feel like a warp. It did not.

Warping was like being pulled down a drain with lots of spinning that left you feeling nauseous. Excessive warping back to back could actually make Joe vomit. Tearing was like being shoved through a miniscule hole in the wall. It hurt. A lot. His body stretched and thinned out, twisting at all angles. He kept stretching and stretching. His skin burned and eyes watered. Everything was stretched as far as it could go. If this lasted any longer, Joe would rip into pieces.

It was over as quick as it began. A thousand rubber bands smacked against his skin as his body snapped back into place. Blinking away the tears, Joe watches as a new world fades into view.

"Where are we?"

"Earth, actually. Home sweet home."

"Does your home look like this? Because mine definitely does not."

Before them lays a city of ruin. Ancient, dilapidated buildings of marble and stone are sprawled out in a large circle. The pathways carve an intricate maze throughout the city. In the center of it all, a large castle looms. Several towers had fallen down and most of the walls are cracked.

The town is surrounded by a lush, green jungle, and in the distance, the sound of a crashing waterfall can be heard. Mountains and volcanos rise high into the sky, smoke pouring out from the top of some.

"This place is incredible!" Fred runs over to the edge of the cliff they landed on. The city sits miles below them. "But why are we here and not there?"

"The city is protected by a magical barrier. This is as close as I can get us. We'll have to walk the rest of the way."

"That's a lot of walking."

"Oh, come on. It's good for you." Arwen gives Fred a rough pat on the back. "For the jock-type, you sure are lazy."

"I am not."

"So, how do we get down there?" Joe, being more cautious than Fred, stands a few feet back from the edge of the cliff. He studies the city far below them. "Do we have to climb down?"

Tessa chuckles. "If you want to die, but there is path." She gestures to the gap in vegetation next to her. A dirt trail leads into the jungle. Joe can barely see ten feet before it disappears into darkness.

"Uh, it's a little dark."

"Good thing we have magic then." Tessa's hand sparks with purple lightning. Within a few seconds, the lighting forms a small ball in the center of her palm, the occasional spark still shooting off. "Shall we?"

* * *

"So where are you girls from?" The six of them have been walking for a while. The conversation comes and goes. They'd been walking in silence for too long. It had been making Joe uncomfortable.

The walk itself was nice enough. They were surrounded by vibrantly colored trees, flowers, and vines. The sounds of exotic birds resonated throughout the jungle. In different circumstances, this would have made a lovely vacation destination.

"Well, Arwen and I are from Boston," Juniper begins. "But Tessa is from-"

"Everywhere!" Tessa quickly interrupts her friend. "I'm a traveler of sorts, but I've been in Boston for two years now."

"That's what happens when you grow up in a circus," Arwen mumbles under her breath.

Tessa purses her lips, a stray spark of lightning striking the air. "Don't be jealous that my life is more exciting than yours, princess." She focuses again on the ball of energy in her hand, calming the lightning before any other stray bolts could escape. Her eyes are intensely dark.

"Wait, did you say Boston?" Fred looks from Juniper to the large, red B on Arwen's shirt. The dots slowly connecting in his head. "No, no, no." He digs his heels into the ground and folds his arms over his chest.

"What's wrong with you? Boston's a nice city." Sam raises an eyebrow at Fred. The whole group has stopped to stare at him.

"No city that is home to the _Red Sox_ is nice." He speaks the name with such contempt that most of the group flinches. Fred places his hand over his heart. "Pure Yankee blood runs through my veins. I can't go on some quest with a Red Sox fan. It's sacrilege! I'd never be allowed back into Yankee Stadium!" He gestures to Arwen's shirt, sneering at the villainous letter.

"I'm surprised he knows how to use the word sacrilege," Sam mutters to Joe, who nods in agreement.

Arwen glances down at her shirt and shrugs. "Okay, whatever." She takes her shirt off, leaving her in just a blue tank top, and ties it around her waist. "Better, Yankee Doodle? Can we get going now?"

Fred's mouth open and closes like a fish out of water. " But, but…" He's at a loss for words. This was not the response he was anticipating. "You don't care? You have to care! The Yankee, Red Sox rivalry is the greatest rivalry in baseball history. Fans are sworn enemies of each other. How are you okay with all this?"

"I don't really care about sports," Arwen says, and Fred stumbles back in shock. "It's kind of a family thing to support the Red Sox, but I'm not into it. If you want a rivalry, go talk to my father. He'll give you the fight you want." She turns away and continues down the trail, abruptly ending the conversation.

The other kids follow her, and Fred drags his feet in the rear. He runs his hand down his face, his eyes narrowed at the ground. He begins to mumble to himself, but everyone leaves him to puzzle it out on his own.

Joe quickens his pace to catch up with Tessa. It's time for him to get some answers. Everything had been moving along so quickly, he hadn't had time to ask anyone any of the questions that had been buzzing around inside his mind. And he had a lot of them. "So, a circus, huh? That's pretty cool."

"Huh?" Tessa momentarily takes her attention away from her magic and blinks at Joe, as if she just now noticed he was there. "Oh, yeah. It was sort of a circus, carnival hybrid. My mom was a fortune teller, and my dad was an illusionist. Before this," she nodded towards her hands, "I was training to be an acrobat. But once I discovered my powers, I started focusing on them more."

"How did it happen? How did you discover your powers? I got _The Book_ as a gift for my tenth birthday, but I didn't know I could do magic until my friends, my sister, and I warped to ancient China and there was this huge army, but only like twenty of us. One of the solider shot an arrow at my sister and was able to slow time right before the arrow hit her. But I've never been able to use magic like that before, and that was the only time that happened until Paris last week. It kind of seems like I can only use it in high-stress situations, but that doesn't seem very useful. I mean, you can use your magic whenever you want. You clearly have amazing control over it-"

"Joe!" Tessa snaps. She had been grinding her teeth through his entire speech and couldn't take it anymore. The ball of light in her hands had darkened and more lightning bolts were shooting out. "If we are going to be wizard partners for life, you have got to talk less. Your innocence is charming, bunny, but annoying."

Joe's cheek flare crimson. " Sorry, it's a bad habit… wait, did you just call me bunny? And did you say partners _for life_? Like marriage? I didn't sign up for that. That's-"

"You're doing it again, bunny." Tessa shoots him a sidelong glance before returning to the ball in her hands. The color gradually lightened back up, and the sparks died down. "Do you want me to answer your questions or not?"

Joe nods, finally silent. He gives Tessa all his attention, ready to learn as much as he can. He couldn't remember the last time he had been this excited about something.

"When I discovered my magic, I was eight and it was a complete accident. It almost killed me. I was practicing my aerial acrobatics, and my ropes came loose. I fell thirty feet towards the ground with no net to catch me." Joe opens his mouth to ask why she didn't have a net, but a quick glare from Tessa shut him up. "So, I panicked. As I was falling, all I wanted was to be safe. My eyes were closed, and I was screaming. Next thing I know, there's this loud cracking noise, and then my body felt like it was being pulled in a hundred different directions. Then it was over. I landed on something soft. When I opened my eyes, I was back in my tent, laying on my bed. I opened my eyes just in time to see a purple portal above my head disappear. No one else in the troop had seen or heard anything. I thought I had imagined the whole thing until I accidentally opened another tear two months later."

"What happened that time?" Tessa's story had only given Joe more questions, but he was fascinated with her. This was the kind of exciting life he had always wanted to live.

"And yes, I did call you bunny before. I think it's very fitting for you." Tessa ignores Joe's other question. "And I also said partners for life. Being a Warp or Aether Wizard is a life sentence. So, yeah, it is kind of like marriage, minus any romance." Tessa gives Joe a pointed look, wanting to make that part very clear. "And for the record, I don't have as much control over my powers as you think I do. I've only been at the academy for a few months. I've learned a lot, but after seeing what Rowena can do, I know I have a long way to go. Anything else, bunny?"

"Well, I, I guess not." Of course, Joe had a million more questions. What powers did Tessa have? Did she know all the powers he would have too? Was bunny a permanent nickname? But he needed time to process everything he had been told. Besides, he knew if he asked Tessa anymore questions, she would snap at him again. He didn't need that right now.

He concentrated on the path ahead of him. Soon, they would be coming upon the city. Not long after that, Joe would have his powers awakened. As long as he lived through the process, he tried not to think about the alternative, he would be a full-fledged Warp Wizard with crazy awesome magical powers. Everything he ever wanted would be happening. He just had to make it through the rest of this mission. Simple enough, right?


	11. A Bet

They arrive at night, the dark city looming over them. The collapsed marble buildings and ruined streetways are less than inviting, and the alleys are all cast in shadow. No matter how hard the kids try, they cannot see inside any of the old buildings. A street paved with a pale blue stone stretches out before them, but no one's feet dare touch it. Instead, they remain crowded around the edge of the city.

"Well, this place is…"

"Haunted?"

"Sinister?"

"I was going to say spooky, but those work too."

Joe peers around the ancient city. He can't tell what it is, but something is buzzing in the air. It thrums in his veins as a tingling sensation builds up in his palms. He glances down at his hands. "What was this place?"

"Cealus. It used to be the largest magical community on Earth. The capital of the magic world. Now it's just a shadow of its former glory." Tessa's lips twist up in a half smile. "But you feel it, don't you? There's still magic here."

Joe gazes at Tessa. He nods, suddenly forgetting how to speak. The tugging in his gut starts up again, pulling him into Tessa.

"Just wait until you're awakened. You'll feel like that everywhere you go."

Joe bites his lip to suppress the thousand questions he wants to ask. Instead, he moves forward, heading into the city. A sudden hand on his shoulder pulls him back.

"I wouldn't go in there if I were you." Arwen removes her hand. "Trust us, the city is not safe at night."

"What? Scared of a few empty houses?" Fred snickers.

A stone pedestal collapses ten feet ahead of them, knocking down the wall next to it and taking down the house with it.

"Yes."

"But more importantly, the people of the city may be gone, but their defenses still remain." Juniper tilts her head to the side, her black hair falling into her face. "Do you hear that?"

The boys pause and listen to the jungle around them. The area is soundless. Not even the birds are chirping anymore and the nearby waterfall had been muted.

"I don't hear anything."

"Exactly. Even the animals here know to avoid this place. It's dangerous." Juniper turns her attention to Arwen and Tessa. "And I don't feel like getting caught in any traps again. It's much safer to go through the city during daylight when we can see everything."

Arwen and Tessa nod in agreement. The boys exchange confused looks, but shrug their consent and look to the girls as to what to do next.

"We'll stay the night out here. Tomorrow, we'll get through the city and hopefully be in the All Father's chambers by early afternoon." The corner of Tessa's mouth twists up, and she stares down Joe. "Then we'll find out how magical you really are."

Arwen rolls her eyes. "Don't you have homework to do? Maybe you should show him how magical you _really_ are."

Tessa narrows her eyes at Arwen, grumbles under breath, and stalks over to a nearby tree. She plops down onto the ground. With a flick of her wrist, she summons a deck of cards. Each card glows faint purple and looks translucent when held up to the light. She begins to shuffle through them, her lips pursed and eyes lowered.

Her eyes dart over to Joe. "Come on. I'm sure you have a thousand more annoying questions to ask me."

Joe blushes, but doesn't deny the accusation. He shuffles over to Tessa and joins her on the ground.

The rest of the group watches as the two young wizards begin to talk. Tessa gradually places the cards on the ground, carefully stacking them next to each other, and explaining to Joe as she goes.

"I give it a month before Tessa scares him off." Arwen purses her lips.

Juniper scoffs. "She may be… intense, but I doubt Joe will scare as easily as the last one."

"The last one? You mean the person who was here before Joe? I thought Rowena and Cassius said that the last guy was sent here by accident?" Sam wrings his hands, eyeing Tessa.

Arwen shrugs. "Accident or not, Tessa made sure he was never coming back," she snickers. "You should have seen the look on this guy's face when Tessa challenged him to a duel."

"Poor guy never stood a chance," Juniper adds.

"Yeah? Well, I bet Joe won't be going anywhere." Fred crosses his arms. "He's way too much of a magic geek to give this up."

"How much?"

Fred blinks. "What?"

"How much do you want to bet?" Arwen raises an eyebrow at him. "If you're so confident in your boy, let's make this a little interesting."

"Uh… ten bucks?"

"That's it?"

"It's all I have."

Arwen pinches the bridge of her nose, taking a moment to collect herself. "How about this? If you're right, and Joe can make it through the rest of the summer with Tessa, I'll give you fifty dollars. But if I'm right, and he wants to run away from her, you have to wear Red Sox gear for a week."

"A week? No way!" Fred scowls. "I'd never be able to step foot in Yankee stadium ever again."

"I thought you were confident in Joe." The corner of Arwen's mouth lifts up in a smirk. "If you're so sure about him, then you should have nothing to worry about."

"Fine," Fred huffs and puts his hand forward. "We have a bet."

Arwen grips Fred's hand, sealing the deal.

" _Pfft_ , I've got this in the bag." Fred grins and leans his shoulder against a nearby column. The column careens back, crashing onto the ground. The rumble shakes everyone off their feet. Plumes of dust fill the air, and several of the kids begin to cough and groan.

The dust gradually clears away. Everyone pushes themselves to their feet.

"Everyone still alive?" Joe calls out.

A round of 'yeahs' fills the air.

"What did you do?" Tessa glares at the others, her magic cards had vanished with the crash. A small scorch mark in the ground is all that remains.

"Um… just a little feng shui." Fred stares at the spot where the column just stood. Pieces of stone littered the ground, but in the center of the crash site, a large gaping hole appeared in the ground. A small amount of light filters down, revealing what appears to be an underground cavern.

The group gathers around the hole, peering down into it.

"What's down there?" Joe squints into the darkness.

Sam takes several steps back. "Nothing good. Everything bad. Probably a lot of death."

"I think there's someone down there." Juniper crouches down, tilts her head, and listens for any signs of life. "I hear voices."

Everyone else listens in. Minutes pass, but the area remains soundless.

"I don't hear anything."

"No, I definitely hear something. People are down there." Juniper sits on the edge, legs dangling into the hole. "What if they're trapped? We have to help them." She begins to push herself forward.

Arwen puts a hand on her shoulder, holding her back. "Maybe we should think this through first, June. We know Cealus is full of magical traps. This could be one of them. I mean, how would anyone even get down there? This city has been abandoned for centuries. If anyone got underground, they're long gone now."

"Yeah, June. Let's listen to Arwen." Sam wraps his arms around himself. "I vote to not go in the spooky cave."

Juniper glares at the others. "I know what I heard. If there's someone down there, then we have to help them. Even if no one's there, what if this gives us an alternate path to the temple? We can walk right to the All Father without having to worry about traps."

"I don't think it's worth the risk. You might be wrong about all this."

Juniper sighs and continues to stare into the hole. "I could be wrong, but I could also be right. And I'm usually right."

Without another word, she slips down into the darkness.

"June!" Tessa and Arwen lunge forward, grasping at air. But it's too late. Juniper is gone.

"That little…" Tessa growls. "Great, now we have to go on a rescue mission." She crouches, preparing to jump into the hole. Arwen follows suit. They both glance at the boys, who are still staring wide-eyed at the spot where Juniper was sitting moments ago.

"You boys stay here, we'll be back with June soon."

Joe shakes his head and snaps out of his stupor. "Wait, you can't go alone. We're coming too."

"We are?" Fred and Sam frown.

"Yes."

Tessa smirks at them. "Fine. Try not to break your legs."

Tessa and Arwen slip quietly into the hole, vanishing as quick as Juniper did.

The trio takes one last glance at each other before reluctantly following the girls down. The fall is shorter than they expect, but far enough to result in a painful landing. They crash in a heap on the hard ground. The only light in the space comes from Tessa's glowing hands. Arwen stands a few feet away, dusting herself off.

"How are you so fine?" Fred says while rolling out his shoulders and pushing himself to his feet.

Tessa shrugs. "Acrobats have to learn to fall before they can learn to fly. I'm used to walking tightropes thirty feet in the air. That fall was nothing."

Everyone rights themselves and takes a moment to look at their surroundings. The space is actually quite narrow, and the kids stand almost shoulder to shoulder. The floor is smooth stone and the walls are lined with empty shelves. The stone archway behind them is impassable, filled with crumbled rocks and debris. The only way out is to move forward through the other stone archway.

Awen looks around, eyes skimming over the bleak space. "Juniper isn't here. She must've gone ahead. Let's get going."

"I swear, Juniper gets us into more dangerous situations than I do," Tessa says as she moves towards the empty archway. The rest of the group moves along with her.

"She does this often?" Sam asks incredulously. "Wait, does she hear voices often?"

The girls share a furtive glance. "Juniper is a very… inquisitive person. But this is the first time she's mentioned any voices. She didn't say anything last time we were here."

"Juniper?" Arwen calls out. "Where are you?"

There's no response. The group pushes on. The scenery stays the same, a narrow passageway lined with empty shelves. They pass under several more archways before the path widens out and leads them into a large circular room with several archways branching off in different directions.

"Great, now which way do we go?"

"How far ahead of us could she have gotten?"

Arwen tries to call out for the hundredth time. "Juniper? June?"

A voice carries over from one of the dark openings. "Over here!"

The group perks up. Relief washes over Tessa and Arwen's faces. They quickly hurry to the center of the room. Juniper emerges from one of the side rooms and rejoins the others. "You're never going to believe what I've found."

"Did you find the source of the voices?"

"Yes, well, no. Maybe? I found some really interesting stuff."

"How did you get here? This place would have been pitch black without Tessa's magic to light the way." Arwen studies Juniper, expecting her to have some secret flashlight or torch.

Juniper rubs the back of her neck and frowns, as if she's not sure of the answer. "Honestly? I just followed my gut. It led me here."

"Okay, well now that we've determined that there are no voices, and you made us all come down here for nothing, can we leave?" Tessa places a hand on her hip, holding the other one out to keep lighting the room. "Sorry, June. Guess you were wrong this time. No one's trapped down here."

"Well, I wasn't entirely wrong. There are people here. I found some in that chamber over there." Juniper points to one of the many exits. "They're just dead."

"Dead?" Sam jumps back, eyes rapidly looking around the room as if he expected zombies to start crawling towards them at any moment. "Where are we?"

"Hard to say for sure, but I think we are surrounded by the last remaining citizens of Cealus. We're in the catacombs."


	12. The Catacombs of Cealus

" _So_ … dead people were talking to you?" Everyone stares at Juniper with wide eyes.

"I know what I heard." Juniper scowls, but her face quickly softens. "I just don't know who said it or where it came from."

"Guess it's a mystery that will never be solved," Sam says, wringing his hands. "Why don't we leave here and get back to the safe, no-dead-bodies-present, surface?"

Fred snickers. "Are you afraid they're going to come back to life?"

"No, that's ridiculous. Nothing can bring back the dead." Sam pushes his glasses up his nose and crosses his arms. "I'm afraid of the traps in place to protect them. People bury their loved ones with valuable possessions, and if the surface is covered with traps to protect the city, then their catacombs probably aren't any different. Grave robbers would love a place like this."

"We've made it this far without running into any traps. This might actually be the safer route." Tessa holds her hands up higher, further illuminating the room. "One of these _has_ to lead to the temple. Probably. What parts have you explored, Juniper?"

Juniper straightens, as if she's a top-ranked agent about to give a report to the president and not her twelve-year-old friend. "I only went into the first room. That's where I found the tombs. I have no idea what's in these other rooms, but one of them could be a path to the temple. It's likely these catacombs were also used as an emergency escape route."

Joe focuses on each of the archways. There are six in total, including the one they just came in through. Several unlit torches line the walls. He snatches the one closest to him and holds it out to Tessa. "Can you light this?"

She raises her brow at him. "I manipulate space and aether energy. I can't create fire."

Joe shrugs and continues to hold out the torch to her. Something in his gut told him this would work. He felt intimately connected to this city despite having never been here before. He knew everything here was graced by magic. "You may not need fire. It's a magic city, who's to say these torches can't be lit by any kind of magic?"

Tessa purses her lips, tentatively reaching out with one of her glowing hands and softly touches the top of the torch. A purple flame bursts into existence, brightly illuminating the chamber.

Joe's mouth splits into a wide grin. "See? Never doubt magic."

"All right, bunny, don't get too excited."

His grin vanishes. His new nickname was wearing thin. "Let's split up," he says and grabs more torches off the walls, giving one to everyone. Tessa follows behind, lighting each one. "If anyone finds anything, just call it out, and we'll all meet up to investigate."

Juniper immediately takes off and disappears into one of the rooms, muttering to herself about finding the source of the voices. Arwen presses her lips together and follows behind her friend.

Sam hovers near Joe and Fred. He waits for one of them to make a decision, too scared to wander off into one of the exits by himself. "So, where should we go first, guys? Should we try the creepy doorway? Or maybe the ominous looking one?"

Fred rolls his eyes. "I want to follow the girls."

Joe frowns. "The whole point was for us to split up and cover more ground."

"Yeah, but I want to know if that chick is crazy or not. She was hearing voices no one else heard."

Tessa scoffs. "Juniper just has an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. She'd do anything to learn something new. She isn't crazy." Her face pinches together in thought. "At least, I don't think she is."

She moves around the room, continuing to use her hand to light the way rather than use a torch. Ancient symbols and murals line the walls of the room. She studies each one and pauses in front of two glyphs. "This city was home to all kinds of magic. Maybe there's something here that speaks to her that the rest of us are deaf to."

Joe walks over to join her and stares at the two symbols that have caught Tessa's attention. They both look familiar to Joe, but he can't remember where he's seen them before.

She glances at him out of the corner of her eye. She holds her hand under the first symbol. It's a collection of purple geometric shapes, a square inside a diamond inside a circle. A cross overlays the symbol, connecting all the shapes together. "Aethermancy. Space."

She moves her hand under the second glyph. It's similar to the first one, except this one is green, and the order of shapes is slightly altered. In this one, a diamond rests inside a square inside a circle. Like the first symbol, all the shapes are connected by an overlaying cross. "And temporamancy. Time." She points to several other symbols along the walls. "Elemancy, necromancy, mundumancy... I don't recognize these other symbols, but they probably represent other areas of magic."

"Are there others like us?" Joe reaches out and traces the time symbol. He remembers where he'd seen it before. These symbols were part of the sigil on the front door of Horae Manor. It made sense if they represented space and time. What did the other two symbols on the door represent? His eyes quickly scan the other symbols on the wall but don't see the other ones from the door anywhere. If they weren't associated with magic, then what were they?

"According to Ro and Cas, yeah," Tessa answers his question. "Just not as powerful or important as us. But I've never met any of them, so I can't say for sure."

"Important?"

"Yeah." Tessa puts on a small smile that doesn't quite reach her eyes. "Turns out magic isn't all fun and games. We actually have a responsibility to live up to. You and I are responsible for maintaining order and peace throughout the entire space-time continuum. Or at least, we will be once Rowena and Cassius retire."

A cold sweat runs down Joe's chest and arms. "Oh."

She playfully nudges him in the side and tosses him a wink. "Doesn't mean we can't have some fun along the way. I bet we have years to go before we actually have to do anything _that_ important."

Joe scratches the back of his neck, considering Tessa's words. He wanted to believe her, but his gut feeling told him otherwise. Rowena and Cassius did seem like they were rushing things. He'd barely gotten his stuff unpacked before he was sent off to be "awakened". He still wasn't a hundred percent sure what that even entailed.

He glances over his shoulder. Unsurprisingly, Fred and Sam had vanished. Fred had probably dragged Sam off to spy on Juniper and Arwen. Joe sighs. "We should probably try finding a path to the temple. Since no one else is." He grumbles the last sentence under his breath and swiftly moves towards one of the unexplored areas.

Tessa hears him anyway and follows closely behind. "Wow, your friends weren't kidding. You really are grumpy. Let's hope Cas is right, and that goes away after you're awakened. I do not want my lifetime warp partner to be a grouch."

"I'm not a grouch," Joe says a little too quickly. "I just have a lot going on in my life right now."

"Like what?"

He blinks. "Like stuff I don't want to talk about with someone I just met."

She shrugs in response, but Joe catches the hurt look in her eyes. "I just figured since we're going to be working together for a long time. Getting to know each other early on could make things easier down the road. Keeping secrets isn't going to benefit either of us."

Joe's face falls, and he looks away. There's no reason he shouldn't open up to Tessa. She had a point. They were going to be partners for the rest of their lives. The least he could do would be to open up a little more with her. But he couldn't bring himself to do it, not yet. She wouldn't understand anyway.

* * *

Juniper strides into the room, following the pulling sensation coming from her head. This was where the voices were coming from. She was sure of it.

But the room is silent.

Like the rest of the underground tunnels, the room is lined with shelves. Unlike the other areas, these shelves are full of books and vials filled with mysterious substances. A large, circular, stone table sits in the middle of the room. It's covered with black and red stains, and strange shapes are carved into the surface.

Juniper walks over to the table. The symbols are foreign to her, but if she concentrates hard enough…

"Are you okay?"

Juniper jumps as Arwen enters the room. "I'm fine."

Arwen puts a hand on her hip. "You're hearing voices, June. That's not fine. Don't lie to me. We've known each other too long for that."

"I can't explain it, Ari. When I was standing above that hole Fred made, I felt this pulling in my head. Then, I started to hear the faintest whispers. You know me, I couldn't experience something like that and not investigate it further."

Arwen shakes her head. "I'm just worried about my best friend. You could have been hurt."

Juniper looks away, looking like a scolded child. Her eyes drift to the shelves and all the books laying on them. None of the titles are in English and several covers feature designs similar to the ones carved into the table. She walks over to them and starts to flip through the pages. A few images catch her eye.

She closes the book she's holding and grabs a few more.

"What are you doing with those?"

Juniper narrows her eyes. "These could be useful."

"Oh! Are we tomb raiders now?" A new voice suddenly speaks out.

Arwen and Juniper spin on their heels and face the doorway. Sam sheepishly grins at them as he stands beside Fred, who is eager to see what Juniper is holding. He grimaces when he realizes it's just a bunch of books.

"I thought we were supposed to split up," Arwen huffs, sending a glare in Fred's direction.

"Yeah, but you two clearly picked the most interesting room. Were you going to keep all this… stuff to yourselves?"

"Yes."

"You're just going to steal those?" Sam speaks up, clearly disapproving of Juniper's actions.

"It's not like they're using them." She gestures towards the room with the corpses. "Who knows what kind of hidden knowledge could be written in here."

"And how do you plan on obtaining that knowledge? You can't-" Arwen begins, but Juniper cuts her off with a sharp glare.

"I'm taking them."

Arwen holds her hands up defensively, not wanting to argue. Juniper fills her arms with as much as she can carry, and the four of them head out of the chamber.

Tessa and Joe are standing in the middle of the main room. They both give Juniper a wide-eyed look.

"I see you did some shopping," says Joe.

"Are those books?" Tessa glances at Arwen, hoping for some sort of explanation.

Arwen just shrugs. She tried to reason with June, but she was determined to take the books out of here with her.

Joe shakes his head. "Well, while you guys were grave robbing-"

"I think tomb raiding is more appropriate here."

He pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs. "While you were tomb raiding, Tessa and I found a path that will hopefully lead to the temple."

"After going through too many rooms with corpses." Tessa wraps her arms around herself and shivers. "I think they have half the city's inhabitants down here. We should get going. I don't like the feel of this place."

Joe nods in agreement. "The path is through that opening over there." He gestures with his torch to one of the archways. "Let's move."

* * *

The tunnel they leave through is as narrow as the one they came in through. But this tunnel was much worse.

"Why is it so wet?" Fred groans and wrings out the bottom of his shirt.

The walls around them were dripping water, and in the narrow passageway, the gang had no option but to rub against it, getting all their clothes wet. About an inch of water had built up on the floor, soaking everyone's shoes and socks as well.

"We're probably under the river that runs through the city," Juniper explains, trying desperately to keep her new books dry.

"As long as we keep moving forward, we'll be out of here soon. Hopefully, this leads to the temple, so we don't have to backtrack." Tessa says from the front of the pack, lighting the way as always.

Joe looks behind them. He stands at the back of the group with a torch. Even with this light source, he can only see a few feet behind himself. They'd been walking for a while. The thought of having to go all the way back through the wet tunnel is not enjoyable.

"Is that light up ahead?"

Joe whips his head back forward. Up ahead, a faint light glows, inviting them closer. A heavy weight settles in the pit of his stomach. Even without seeing it, he knows it is the temple. The All Father is just ahead, ready to awaken Joe.

The crew keeps pushing ahead. The path starts to bend upward, leading them to the surface. Gradually, the walls become dryer, and the water on the ground drains away.

Everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief as they emerge from the tunnel into an open, sunlit chamber. The room is round and lays under a high dome ceiling. Five marble columns hold up one side of the room, leading directly outside to the streets of Cealus. The back side of the room has two exits. The one the group just came through is a collapsed bit of wall, not even an actual doorway. Maybe a secret door had once stood there, leading into the catacombs. Now however, it's just a jagged hole in the wall.

The other exit is a wide opening that leads to a staircase. Despite the decay and erosion of the city and the room around them, the stairs appear to be in pristine condition, as if they were built yesterday. Even the walls lining the stairs are smooth and polished.

"Sunlight?" Sam peers outside. "It was nighttime when we entered the catacombs. We weren't down there that long. How is this possible?"

Juniper adjusts her glasses. "You really don't understand magic, do you?"

"This is it?" Fred scoffs and crosses his arms. "I figured some dude named the All Father would have nice digs than this. Who builds a place that's just stairs?" He saunters over to the staircase, puts his foot on the first step-

And gets zapped by a purple lightning bolt. Fred yelps, clutching his foot, and moves back to where everyone else is standing. A barrier appears over the entrance to the staircase. Swirls of purple and green mist obscure what lies beyond.

"This is it for _you_. That wall won't let anyone non-magical in," Tessa chuckles.

"A warning would have been nice," Fred grumbles.

Arwen shrugs, but can't hide the smirk on her face. "We had to learn the hard way. Only fair you did too."

Tessa looks at Joe. " _We_ , however, are not done yet. The All Father waits at the top of the stairs. Ready, bunny?"


	13. The Realm of the All Father

Joe shuffles his deck of cards as he and Tessa make their way up the stairs to the All Father. The edges are bent and torn from years of use, but he continues to toy with them, furthering the damage.

Tessa glances at him out of the corner of her eye. "You really don't need to be nervous."

"I'm not nervous."

"Then you have the worst sleight of hand I've ever seen. Your fingers are so stiff."

"Sleight of hand is my specialty." Joe's hand slips and his cards scatter all over the stairs.

Tessa rolls her eyes and bends down to help him pick them up. "Of course it is. Sure you're not nervous?"

His face flushes deep scarlet. "So what if I am? This whole situation is very daunting. I'm about to be magically awakened, and it might kill me."

The thought hadn't stopped running around in Joe's mind. What if he wasn't ready for this? What if it killed him like Tessa had warned him it might? She said it was the most incredible experience of her life, and yet, Joe was more nervous than excited. This should be his dream come true. He was on the path to becoming the Warp Wizard, not that he knew what that meant, but it still sounded cool. He would be practicing real magic. No more lame card tricks or pulling bunnies from hats. So, why were his palms so sweaty?

"It might kill you, but it probably won't." She offers him an empathetic smile. "You were chosen to be the next Warp Wizard. You have genuine magic running through your blood. The awakening process has only been known to kill people who don't have true magic within them."

Joe studies Tessa, noting the seriousness within her violet eyes. "You really know a lot about magic. I've never met anyone who's as passionate about it as me."

Now it's Tessa's turn to blush. "Well, I try to pay attention in my lessons, even if they are boring. I just prefer to actually practice magic than read about it."

They gather up the rest of the fallen cards and stand back up, climbing the stairs once more. Joe slips the deck back into his pocket for safe keeping.

"For the record, it's perfectly okay to be nervous about all this. I was terrified when I came here a few months ago. At least you're not alone." Tessa's eyes wander up the staircase, not focusing on any point in particular. Only a few stairs can be seen at a time. The colorful fog is too thick for them to see the summit.

Joe continues to watch Tessa. He'd been so focused on himself, he didn't even think about how she went through all of this by herself. Joe knew what to expect once he got to the top, roughly. Had Tessa known anything at all? He tried to put himself in her position. First, finding out you were next in a long line of powerful wizards, then walking up these stairs to her potential death, not knowing when they were going to end, all while being by herself. A shiver ran down his spine. No wonder she was trying to connect with him. For the first time in months, she had someone she could relate to. He was definitely grateful for her company.

"I haven't seen my uncle in month's," Joe suddenly says.

Tessa blinks, snapping out her thoughts. "What?"

"The reason I've been so 'grouchy' lately," he confesses. He takes a deep breath and keeps talking before he can doubt himself. "A few months ago, my uncle went missing after a warp. I've tried so hard to find him, but no matter where I look, he isn't there. I swore I did everything right when we warped that time, but I'm still worried it's my fault he's missing. He's my favourite family member. We're so close. He taught me everything I know about magic. He was even the one to give me _The Book_. Now he's gone, and I don't know if I'll ever get him back. On top of all that, getting thrown into Horae Manor hasn't been easy either. I feel like I have a million questions, and everyone refuses to answer them. I get having my powers awakened is important, but a quick explanation for what's going on would have been nice."

Joe hates to admit it, but speaking all his fears out loud takes a huge weight off his shoulders. He feels better already. He holds himself back from saying anything else, wanting to give Tessa a chance to respond.

She nods at his confession. "Losing family is tough. I get it." Again, that faraway look appears in her eyes, dulling their glow.

Joe senses another common thread between them. "What happened to your family?"

Tessa jumps. "Nothing," she answers quickly. "They're fine."

" _Okay_." He leans away. "I thought you didn't want to keep secrets from each other."

"I-" Tessa stutters. "I just miss them. A lot. They're still traveling with the circus, and I haven't seen them in a while."

"Why aren't you traveling with them?"

"They sent me to Boston a few years ago to live with Arwen and have the chance at a normal life. I miss the circus. Normal life is so boring." Tessa huffs and crosses her arms. "When I got the letter to study at Horae Manor, I was so excited to be living a life of adventure again. I honestly don't know what I'd do without magic." Her hand reaches out into the fog, it reacts to her touch by glowing a bright shade of purple. "It's been both a blessing and a curse, but I would never give it up."

"What's the name of your family's circus?" Joe asks, wanting to keep the conversation going.

Tessa bites her lip. "Um, it's a small troupe. You've probably never heard of us. We're mostly based in the south."

"But I-"

Tess ignores him. "So what questions do you have that your dying to have answered? We've got a bit before we make it to the top."

Joe blinks, not expecting the sudden change in topic. "Um, well, why do I feel drawn to you?"

She stumbles, nearly falling back down the staircase. "Little soon to be confessing your love for me, isn't it?"

His cheeks flame red. "No, no, no. Not like that. It's just... ever since we met, I've felt like something was tugging me to you. Is it because we're magic partners?"

"Maybe." She tilts her head to the side, and starts to move again. "But I don't feel any sort of pull to you. Are you sure it's me you feel connected to?"

Joe nods. "It has to be. I started to feel it as soon as we were in that prison cell together back in Paris. It comes from my gut, and it's pretty strong."

" _Ohh._ " Tessa digs through her pockets and pulls out a gold pocket watch. "Is it this?"

His eyes narrow at the watch. It looked familiar to him. "Is that mine?"

"Yeah." She hands it to him. "I sort of swiped it off you when we in Paris."

He takes the pocket watch. The tugging in his gut subsides as he does, as if the watch is exactly where it's supposed to be now. It takes him a moment, but Joe suddenly realizes what this is. It's the timepiece Uncle Joe left him when he leveled up to a time page. He tucks the gift away. "What do you mean, you swiped it off of me?"

Her cheeks turn pink. "Back in the circus, I use to be a pickpocket."

"I thought you were an acrobat?"

"I had multiple jobs." Tessa rubs the back of her neck. "Ticket sales aren't always enough to pay the bills."

Joe stares at his pocket watch. Honestly, he hadn't even noticed it was gone. He should be paying better attention. Still, Tessa had no right to steal his stuff. She was as bad as his sister. "Why would you take this? What else have you stolen?"

"Oh, look! I think I can see the end." Tessa hops up the stairs, forcing Joe to quicken his pace.

If he squints, he can just barely make out the outline of the top platform. The image gradually becomes clearer as they continue to ascend the staircase. Despite their conversation, Joe still has butterflies in his stomach about the whole thing. Not to mention, a thousand questions.

He stops a few steps short of the summit.

Tessa climbs a bit more before realizing Joe is not with her. She turns around, notices his nervous stature, and rejoins him. She places her hand on his shoulder. "It's going to be okay. The awakening process is quick and painless, and the All Father is super nice. Nothing bad will happen to you. I'll be by your side the whole time. I promise."

He looks at her hand, then slowly gazes up into her eyes. The butterflies settle down as he focuses on the tugging pulling him to her. He takes a deep breath. "Okay. Let's do this."

They break through the mist and emerge into a world of magic.

Flames of every color dance alongside the floor, but leave no scorch marks in their wake. One fire twists and turns through the air, changing from purple to blue to black to white. The other fires move and change in a similar fashion, but with different colors. The same magic symbols that decorated the walls of the catacombs are carved into the floor, creating a winding path through the flames. Blackness surrounds them on all sides. It's as if they are standing on a floating sidewalk.

It's hard to see the ceiling, or if there even is one. The flames disappear high into the sky and begin too far down to see if there is a bottom.

"Woah." It's all Joe can manage to get out. The past few days have thrown an overwhelming amount of beautiful impossibilities at him, but this one takes the cake. The thrum in the air was stronger than the magic he had felt outside. It fills his chest and sends tingles down his arms and legs. His head buzzes from the sensation of it all. He's never felt so alive.

Tessa's eyes are closed. She lets out a soft sigh. It sounds almost melodic in this atmosphere. "I forgot how good this place feels." She opens her eyes to look at Joe. "This is the birthplace of all magic. Where all great magicians and wizards have been awakened. This is where the All Father resides."

Her gaze slides up the path and Joe's follows. He can't see around the bend of fire, but he knows the All Father is close. His awakening is about to begin.

The two young wizards move up the path. As they round the corner of flames, they begin to hear a muttering voice. The words are indistinguishable, so they keep moving forward until they come upon the man himself, the All Father.

Unlike everyone else Joe had met, the All Father looks exactly like he expects him to. His grey beard and mustache are thick, completely covering the lower half of his face, but they're well-trimmed and fall no farther than his neck. His hair appears less kempt, and still has a bit of black in it. The messy strands are short, not fully covering his ears. His skin is a pale white and almost glows from the surrounding fires.

He sits behind a mahogany desk in a simple tan suit jacket. Okay, that was not what Joe was expecting. He was hoping for some long robes and a wizard hat. Why did every magical person have to dress so normally?

The All Father hasn't noticed their presence. He continues to mumble to himself in a smooth, deep voice. "If the rate of decay continues to increase at this current speed, all will be lost in a matter of decades. Unless, I can alter the-"

Tessa clears her throat.

The All Father jumps at the sound. He looks up at them with white eyes. "Who are you? How did you get in here?" His colorless eyes narrow and he pushed himself away from the desk. He remains seated, for now.

Joe takes a step back. Apparently, another common trait among magical people was freaky colored eyes, or lack-there-of in the All Father's case. Despite their lack of pupils, they seem to bore into Joe and Tessa.

Tessa straightens her spine. "I'm Tessa Johnson, the next Aether Wizard." Her voice is calm, as if she anticipated this would happen. "We met a few months ago when you awakened me."

His face softens, appearing almost apologetic. "Ah, yes. The anachronism. You'll have to forgive me. I usually don't meet people more than once." His eyes flare lime green. It was so quick, Joe wasn't sure it had even happened. "And yet, you and I are fated to meet once more."

Tessa scrunches up her face. "Why?"

The All Father either doesn't hear her or ignores her. He turns his attention on Joe. "You, I don't know. Why have you come to see me? Not that I'm complaining. It's always nice to have visitors. No one visits anymore."

Joe's heart is suddenly heavy for the old man. No wonder his mind was starting to slip away. If Cealus had been abandoned years ago, then he probably didn't socialize very much anymore. He didn't know how many people came here to be awakened, but it couldn't have been too many. What was it like to live like this? In total isolation with only your thoughts to keep you company.

Joe clears his throat, his nerves still present despite his sympathy for the All Father. "My name's Joe Arthur. I'm the next Warp Wizard. Tessa and I have come here so that I can be awakened."

The All Father grins. "Ah, an awakening. I love these. Come, let's not waste time. After all, your time is the most precious of all." He chuckles to himself as he stands and steps back from the desk.

With a wave of his wrinkled hand, the desk slides to the shoulder of the platform. Another flick of the wrist, and a curious pattern begins to etch itself into the floor. Joe immediately recognizes it as the symbol for time magic. The shape begins to glow a familiar shade of green.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Step up, boy! Don't you want to be awakened?"

"I-" He stuttered. Yes, no, maybe. The words bounced around inside Joe's head. Yes, he wanted to have full access to his magical abilities and be able to call upon them anytime he wanted like Tessa could with hers. No, he didn't want to deal with all this responsibility he and Tessa were apparently destined for. But maybe, things wouldn't be so bad. Rowena and Cas seemed to be pretty okay.

Tessa places her hand on his shoulder. Calming him, like she did on the stairwell. "This will be the most amazing moment of your life. And think of everything you'll be able to do afterwards." She smiles softly at him, and once again Joe's nerves fade away.

Joe turns back to the All Father and nods once. "Okay. Let's do this."

He steps into the center of the symbol. The thrum of magic shoots up his body, starting in the soles of his feet and racing up to the tip of his head. The intensity of it makes him light-headed, but he holds his ground, feet locked in place.

The All Father wriggles his fingers, a smile playing along his lips. This was clearly the only form of the fun the old man had anymore. "Before we begin, I must warn you. If your body cannot handle the awakening process, it will kill you, and it will not be painless. However, if you truly are a great wizard and your body and mind don't implode, your life will never be the same. Magic is as deadly as it is powerful. If you do not wield it correctly, it will kill you. I need you to tell me that you understand all this and consent to it."

Joe tilts his head. "You mean, you can't tell if I'm a great wizard or not?"

"I _could_ look into the future and see what the fates have in store for you," the All Father lifts his shoulders, "but the future is always changing. Even if you are destined to be a great wizard, your body might not be ready for the awakening yet."

Joe clenched his fists. Tessa had survived and had come out stronger. Why shouldn't he? "I'm ready."

The All Father nods and cracks his knuckles. "I thought so. Let's begin."

And then Joe's world goes black.

A warm ethereal glow creeps into the edges of his vision. The white light pulses in time with his heartbeat, now ringing in his mind. Slowly, the white color morphs into soft green, which continues to grow in intensity until it nearly blinds Joe.

Then it's gone.

Back to the darkness, Joe tries to move his head to see his surroundings, but his body is frozen in place. Or rather, his soul is. He can't quite describe it, but he feels as though he has no body, no sort of physical form in this realm. Or wherever he was.

He suddenly feels warm and his head is buzzing. It's a very pleasant feeling. He sighs, enjoying the energy rolling up and down his body. He would never be able to have a regular massage again. Was this the pleasant feeling Tessa had been bragging about? It was nice, but certainly not the most amazing sensation of his life.

The feeling intensifies, this time radiating from his heart. It grows and grows. Pounding against Joe's chest. Something tears open inside him, like a puma breaking free of its cage. The pleasantness is gone, replaced by a hard pain. He wants to clutch his chest and scream for this all to stop, but nothing comes out of him.

This can't be right. This was supposed to be his magical awakening. But, what if he was wrong. Maybe his body hadn't been ready to accept this much power. This could be his end.

Everything in him tightens up, and just as quickly, releases. Joe would collapse if he could. But he's still standing, and he's still alive.

A symbol appears in the air below him. It's the same weird cross that was on the door to Horae Manor, next to the symbol of time magic. No one had explained to him what it meant, but in this space, he feels oddly connected to it. He floats down to the symbol. As soon as he makes contact, it flashes silver.

The light fades and once again, Joe finds himself in an empty, black space. This time, the space doesn't feel empty. Something pushes in all around him, squeezing him uncomfortably. Like whatever had been released was trying desperately to get back in. The force melts into his chest, settling comfortably in his heart.

The ecstasy that hits him sends him soaring into the air. It's like a blast of warm wind that flies under his shirt and flows to his face. Tingles shoot down his spine and back up again and Joe swears he can hear fireworks in the distance. Green light flares out in all directions. It all makes him feel so lightheaded.

The pleasure fades away bit by bit until Joe is left numb and shaking. The darkness closes in around him, and he slips into unconsciousness.


	14. Exit This Way

Fred, Sam, Arwen, and Juniper sit on the steps waiting for Joe and Tessa to return. It's only been thirty minutes, but it's been a long thirty minutes. The temple sits high above the city. The ruined streets of Cealus stretch out before them. The sunlight reflects off the marble pillars and cracked walls. It's so serene, it's hard to believe this place is boobytrapped.

"So, how long does this usually take?" Fred looks to the girls.

Arwen lifts her shoulders. "Tessa was only up there for fifteen minutes last time. I have no idea what's taking them so long."

"Maybe Joe died."

Everyone stares at Juniper, eyes wide.

"What?" She shrinks away, hair falling into her face. "It could happen. Not everyone can handle the awakening. Statistically, ten percent of wizards don't survive it."

"June, we really need to work on your filtering."

"I don't see the point in being dishonest." She crosses her arms, her mouth set in a firm line.

Arwen sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'm sure they'll be back down any moment."

"Well, I'm going to go explore while we wait. I can't keep sitting around like this. I can feel my muscles turning to fat." Fred flexes his arm, poking at his bicep.

Arwen stares at him. "You can't be serious. You'll be dead within five minutes. You have no idea what kind of traps and monsters are out there."

He walks down the steps and turns his head over his shoulder. "Then come with me if you're so worried about me."

Seeing Arwen's look, Sam says, "He's going to go no matter what you do or say."

Arwen glances at Juniper and Sam, and seeing that neither of them are going to make an attempt to stop Fred, she stands up and follows him down the steps. "Just stick to the roads, okay? Last time we were here, we ran into a vicious monster that I'd rather not face again."

Fred scoffs a laugh. "I didn't realize you were such a scaredy cat. You and Sam would get along great. Of course, I shouldn't expect anything less from a Red Sox fan."

"I am not a scaredy cat," Arwen says, scowling. "There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. You clearly don't know where that line is. And if you bring up this stupid sports rivalry one more time..."

"Whatever you say, scaredy cat."

They move through the streets in awkward silence. Despite the high sun, the light doesn't reach into any of the buildings, hiding whatever may be lurking inside. They reach the end of the street and turn right down a new path.

"See? No scary monsters anywhere. Sorry, Ari, seems like you girls set off all the traps last time you were in Cealus. Maybe you three aren't as great as you think you are."

"First, only my friends can call me Ari, and you haven't earned that privilege yet. Second, just because we've been lucky so far, doesn't mean there isn't anything out there."

Fred rubs the back of his neck. "Man, you girls are so uptight. I get you've been at Horae Manor longer than us and know more about magic, but you don't need to be so snobby about it."

Arwen puts her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe if you three took this more seriously, we wouldn't have to act so uptight about it."

"Jeez, you really are like Sam," he grumbles under his breath. A squat building tucked away on the side of the street catches his eye. It's painted a bright blue color and shines in the sunlight.

Arwen sighs and follows along behind him, stretching out her limbs and cracking her knuckles as she goes.

Fred watches her from the corner of his eye. "What are you doing?"

"Preparing for the trouble you are inevitably getting us into."

"Not gonna try to stop me?"

"What's the point?"

"Fair enough."

They enter the house side by side. The interior is as dilapidated as the rest of the city. Broken windows allow trace amounts of sunlight to stream inside, but overall, the house is dark. Standing in the foyer, Fred and Arwen can see almost every room in the house through various holes in the walls. Wooden beams with rusted nails and piles of crumbled stone and marble are scattered everywhere.

"Congratulations. Your adventuring skills have led us to discover tetanus city. I can't wait to pick out my souvenir rusty nail." Arwen rolls her eyes.

Fred heads further into the building, stepping over mounds of debris. "How cool is this place? It's like something from a horror film."

"How comforting," she grumbles as she follows behind Fred.

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I must have left it at home."

"You should lighten up, magic can be fun too you know."

The corner of Arwen's mouth quirks up. " _You_ sound like Tessa."

"Maybe you should listen to her. She's fun."

Arwen's smile vanishes. "That fun has nearly cost us our lives several times."

"But," Fred pokes her in the shoulder, "hasn't it also given you tons of awesome adventures? And _saved_ your lives several times? You just gotta find the balance. You act like we could die at any moment. Take a chill pill, scaredy cat." Fred folds his arms over his chest and leans against a wooden beam. A crack fills the air, the beam splits in two and crashes to the ground. The noise reverberates through the house as dust floats up from the ground. "Oops."

Arwen coughs. She flicks her hands in front of her face in a desperate attempt to create breathable air. "Great. Now I can have asthma to go with my tetanus."

Then a roar rings out from the back of the house.

"What was that?" Fred says, while at the same time Arwen says, "There it is."

"There _what_ is?"

"The trouble I knew you were going to get us into." A slight grin plays along her mouth as she cracks her knuckles.

He smiles in return. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you look like you're about to have some fun."

She shrugs back at him, not even trying to hide her enjoyment. "I enjoy a good fight or two."

Soft footsteps begin to move toward them and a large, hulking shadow emerges from the darkness. It lets out another roar.

Arwen's smile vanishes. "But not this fight."

* * *

"So, you're saying that magic _is_ science?"

Juniper nods, only half-listening to Sam while she skims through the notebooks she picked up earlier in the catacombs. "Technically, it's just one of the many branches of science, a long forgotten one by normal people."

"That's ridiculous." Sam huffs and crosses his arms. "Science is facts and research. Magic is… magic. It had no basis in reality. It shouldn't even exist."

Juniper lifts a shoulder, still not looking up from her notebook. "There are currently twenty-two million people involved in the magical world. I wouldn't say that to any of them. You'll figure it all out soon enough once your lessons start at Horae Manor. Magic is fascinating."

"Is that why you're so focused on those books?"

Juniper jumps and slams the book shut. "Maybe." She turns away, hiding behind her hair. "I just like learning, okay?"

"Okay. I didn't mean to offend you. You don't need to be so defensive about it. It's actually refreshing to meet someone who loves learning almost as much as I do."

"Almost?"

A groan from behind interrupts their conversation. They both snap their heads around and find an exhausted-looking Joe and Tessa standing behind them. Tessa is out of breath, but otherwise appears okay. Joe, on the other hand, looks worse for wear. Heavy bags rest under his eyes, and there's a smear of dried blood under his nose. He's leaning heavily on Tessa, who grunts under his weight.

"Joe!" Sam jumps to his feet and hurries over to his friend. "What happened?"

"The awakening." Tessa answers. "Highest high of your life. Worse hangover you'll ever experience after."

Joe groans again, too weak to speak.

"He'll be like this until we get him to the infirmary at Horae Manor. Cas will be able to heal him." Tessa sets Joe down as gently as she can. As she stands back up, her eyes do a quick scan of the marble steps. "Where are Fred and Arwen?"

On cue, a roar echoes down the streets of Cealus.

Tessa runs her hand over her face. "Nevermind. We were gone for less than an hour! What the hell happened?"

Arwen and Fred come peeling around the corner, charging up the stairs. They nearly crash into the others.

"We gotta get moving. There's this-" Fred stops when he sees Joe holding his head in his hands. "What happened to you? You look like death."

"Thanks," Joe mumbles, his senses slowly returning to him. He manages to turn his head to Tessa to glare at her. "A warning about this part of the awakening would have been nice."

She turns away, a rock on the ground suddenly becoming very interesting to her.

"What are you two running from? What was that noise?" Sam yells.

Another roar rings out. Closer this time.

"Fred pissed off a drake."

"Hey! You're the one who-"

"We don't have time for this!" Tess interrupts him. "We need to get out of here before it finds us."

"What's a drake?" Sam runs his hands through his hair.

"It's like a small dragon without wings. They spit out a highly corrosive acid," Juniper responds.

"And we're dead if it gets to us. So let's get moving. Now."

Fred helps Joe to his feet, and everyone rushes down the stairs. Fred stumbles down the steps under Joe's weight. He looks to his friend. "Can you walk at all? There's no way we're going to make it out of here like this." Fred drags Joe down another step, and bumps into Sam. "Okay, you standing here doesn't help either. Why aren't you moving?"

He peers over Sam's shoulder and sees why the group froze. A beast with forest-colored scales stares at them from the bottom of the steps with glowing yellow eyes. Razor-sharp spikes line its back from the base of its head to the tip of its tail. The claws on each of its feet are just as sharp. A string of saliva drips out of its mouth and onto the stone street, turning to the road to liquid. A low growl rumbles out of its throat. The drake.

"Change of plans." Tessa takes a step back. "Escape is no longer an option. We'll have to fight."

"Fight?" Sam's eyes widen. "You can't be serious! It's bigger than my mom's car!"

"He's right, Tessa. There's no way we'd win," Arwen says. "We'll just have to go around it."

Tessa scans the rooftops. "I can work with that. Arwen, keep the drake distracted. June, get the boys back up top. On my signal, we run."

"What are we supposed to do?" Fred asks, eyes never leaving the slowly approaching predator.

"Stay out of the way," all three girls answer at once.

"I like this plan," Sam says, following Juniper as she retreats to the temple.

"I don't," Fred responds, but pulls Joe back up the steps anyway.

Tessa runs to the side of the staircase, leaps off, and lands next to a mostly still-intact building. She starts scaling the side, making her way to the roof. Joe watches as she goes, fascinated by her speed and dexterity. Was all that because of her training at Horae Manor? Or were these skills she had picked up from her years in the circus?

Only Arwen remains at the bottom of the stairs, ready to face the drake head-on. It shows little interest in her retreating friends, and continues to crawl towards her, hissing as it does so. "I hope your fast, Tess." She lunges for the drake, landing a heavy punch directly on its snout.

The drake blinks, more surprised than hurt. It shakes the shock off and snaps at Arwen, forcing her back. Acid flies out its mouth, destroying the steps around them. Arwen feints left, driving her foot into its soft underbelly.

It cries out, whipping its tail at her, throwing her to the ground. She rolls to the side, narrowly missing a blast of acid to her face. She stands back up, ignoring the pain in her legs. "I need you to be faster, Tess!" she calls out to the rooftops.

"I'm doing my best!" Tessa's hands glow vivid purple as she whips them through the air. But nothing down below seems to be happening.

"Well, do better!" Arwen jumps back as the drake lashes out at her with its sharp claws. "I'm not trying to die today!"

"We have to help her," Fred says as he watches the fight. He tries to move down the stairs, but Juniper holds him back.

"No. You'll just get in the way."

"We can't just let her fight that thing alone! She'll die! She's already bleeding." He points to the red smear on her legs.

"Arwen is more capable than you think. She'll be fine. Besides, you're the one who got us into this mess. Do you really want to make things worse?"

Fred glares at her, but stays silent.

"Arwen, get back to the others!" Tessa yells down. "When you get up top, jump off on the right."

Arwen dances away from yet another acid ball. Throwing in one last punch, she spins on her heels and takes off for the temple. When she finally reaches the top, she's out of breath. "Tessa says to jump off on the right side. That'll take us out of here."

"Jump off? Is suicide really our only option?"

Arwen and Juniper roll their eyes in unison. "Just trust us."

They grab onto the boys and pull them over the edge. The drop should have been over fifty feet, but they hit the ground unharmed instantly.

"What the-?"

"We'll explain later. Now, move. Tessa won't be able to fool the drake for long."

The group runs down the narrow alley, Fred once again carrying Joe, who's still too weak to run on his own. They follow every twist and turn, but somehow never make it back to the main street. In the distance, they hear the drake screech. They push on, rounding one last corner before bursting out into the jungle. The last stones of the street turning into dirt.

Everyone stops to catch their breath, doubled over in shock and exhaustion.

"Where's Tessa?" Joe wheezes. "We can't leave her behind. That thing is still back there."

Like a true performer, Tessa chooses that moment to launch herself off the roof of a nearby building. She rolls out of the landing and pops up next to the others. "What are you standing around for? The drake will track our scent at any moment. Move!" Without waiting, she runs off into the jungle.

The others don't need to be told twice. They follow her, dodging boulders and trees as they go.

"We just need to get outside the magic barrier. Then I can tear us back to Horae Manor."

The group presses on, sprinting through the jungle, leaping over rocks and fallen trees. Their escape comes to a sudden halt when they reach a wide river. The water is too murky to see the bottom.

Tessa curses. "We'll have to find a way around."

"Why? Let's just wade through it." Fred lets go of Joe, moves to the front of the group, and peers into the water. "The current isn't even that strong."

"We have no idea what kind of creatures are in there. Besides, it could be too deep to wade through."

"Can't you swim?"

"Of course I can. I just-" Tessa bites her lip. Her eyes dart to Arwen, then back to Fred. "We're going around, and that's final. I bet there's a bridge or something farther upstream."

"That would take too much time. Can't you just do whatever weird magic trick you did to get us out of the city? What was that anyway?"

"Yeah, there's no way we should have survived that fall."

"Just a little spatial manipulation. As long as I have an aerial view of the space, I can twist the locations of buildings and pathways, basically making a maze. It's the same trick I pulled in Paris." Tessa steps away from the water and starts to head upriver.

"Paris?" It's difficult for Joe to process anything through the haze of pain and anger he's in, but a recent memory resurfaces in his mind. His fists clench. "You tricked us. You lured us into one of your mazes when we were in Paris. We were trapped in there for hours!"

The trees behind them begin to shake. Heavy footsteps move toward them.

Tessa's eyes flick through the jungle. "Now is not the time for this conversation. The drake will catch us if we don't get out of here."

"Why?" Joe crosses his arms. "First, you steal my pocket watch. Then you lie and manipulate me? We're supposed to be partners! What is wrong with you?"

"Wait, she stole your pocket watch?" Sam narrows his eyes at Tessa, really studying her for the first time. "I was right! I told you they were untrustworthy thieves. I knew it the moment we met them."

"We can all talk about how Tess is a terrible person later." Arwen grabs Joe's wrist, pulling him forward. "Like when we're safe inside the dining hall at the manor. It'll make great dinner conversation. But we need to survive here first."

"No." Joe pulls his arm free. "I don't trust her. I don't trust any of you."

Tessa flinches. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Definitely not okay."

Arwen growls, "Look, she is the only one who can get us home. You can trust her now, because her life is at stake too. And I promise you, she values her own life too much to die today." Arwen's eyes slide over the trio. "So get moving. _Now_."

"I'm with Joe on this one." Sam holds his stance next to his best friend. "Ever since we met you girls, you've been hiding stuff from us and acting all superior. How do we know you're not leading us into a trap where we get left behind and you three make it out alive?"

"Because we're not monsters!"

"Sure about that?"

"All right. Everyone needs to just relax." Fred steps forward, placing himself in the middle of everyone. "We're in a tense situation, and we don't know each other that well yet. Once we get back to the manor, we can do a ton of team bonding stuff. We can't give up on each other just yet."

"You're only saying this so you can win the bet," Sam puts his hands on his hips.

"I am not!" Fred frowns. "That's just one of the reasons."

"What bet?" Joe's glare shifts from Tessa to Fred.

Fred doesn't meet Joe's gaze. "It's nothing. Arwen and I just had a little deal that if you could stick it out with Tessa, I'd win fifty dollars. But I totally had faith in you. I know you can stick this out."

"I don't care! Why would you do that?"

"It's not a big deal. Just calm down. I thought your little rages were supposed to go away once you were awakened?"

"Stop telling me to calm down!"

"Bunny-"

"And stop calling me that!"

The argument continues, the shouts growing louder and louder until everyone is screaming at each other.

And no one hears the drake approach. It bursts through the trees, acid spit firing everywhere. It charges forward, bulldozing anything blocking it from reaching the kids.

Their screams of anger turn into screams of terror as the beast approaches. Arms and hands fly up in a meek attempt to protect themselves.

 _No_. Joe can't let them die like this. He may be weak and his mind may be scattered right now, but he wasn't useless. He puts all his energy into raising his hand at the charging beast and opens his mouth.

" _Stop_."


	15. Welcome to Magic

Joe winces as Cassius places his hand over his nose.

"Sorry. I'm trying to be as gentle as possible." Cassius' hand glows a soft green as he begins to heal Joe.

The magic feels warm against Joe's skin. Like sunlight. "You have healing magic?"

"We both do." Cas winks at him. "Time heals all wounds, right?"

Joe pauses. He had never really thought about what his time magic could and couldn't do. He knew he could manipulate time, stop or slow it as he pleased, but outside of that, he had no idea what he was capable of. He has so much to learn.

"Of course, I'm nowhere near as talented of a healer as my wife. She's an animantist, so it's kind of her specialty."

"An animantist?" Joe raises his brows, and another thought occurs to him. "Wait, Rowena's not your wife?"

Cas grimaces and turns green. For a moment, Joe thinks he might actually vomit. "Ro is my sister. My twin actually. I'm surprised you couldn't tell."

"Oh, sorry." Joe presses his lips together and looks away. He decides to change the subject. "So, what's an animantist?"

"An animantist is someone who practices the magic of the living. They're healers, basically. Animancy is one of the nine magics. We'll be able to talk more about it once we start your lessons. Ro and I are planning it all out right now. This last quest provided a lot of information for us. We have a pretty good idea of what you all need to work on. When you return next summer, everything will be ready for you."

"Right. Thanks again for saving us." Joe still can't meet Cassius' eyes.

Cas offers him a small smile. "Not every quest and mission you go on will be a success. Just remember Ro and I will not always be here to protect you."

"I know." The memory of yesterday's attack is still fresh in Joe's mind. If not for Rowena and Cassius, they all would be dead right now.

* * *

"Stop."

The drake freezes in mid-air, its claws inches from their throats.

Everyone freezes, not sure if the threat is gone or not. The tension melts away as soon as they see two familiar faces walk up to them.

Sam nearly faints. "Oh, thank goodness!" He falls to his knees, gulping down air.

Everyone else relaxes, relieved to see Rowena and Cassius hear to rescue them.

Cassius pulls the beast to him, a green glow emanating from his hand, and flings it into the trees. A loud crash can be heard in the distance, but no sounds of pursuit rise up. They're safe, for now.

"I thought we were goners," Fred lets out a nervous chuckle.

"And you would have been if we had not shown up."

"You're lucky we were watching you."

The kids' smiles vanish when they notice Rowena and Cassius' unamused faces.

Rowena takes a deep breath, purses her lips, and glares at each kid in turn. "This should have been an easy mission for you. Instead, it turned into a disastrous failure. And you all are to blame. I have never-"

"Ro," Cassius cuts her off, "we can lecture them later. Right now, I think it's more important we get them back to Horae Manor. They need rest and a visit to the infirmary." He gestures to Joe and Arwen.

She sighs and closes her eyes. "Fair enough. But we are not done with this conversation."

* * *

Joe wasn't ready for that conversation yet. He knew he had messed up in Cealus. He already regretted most of the things he said. The anger and frustration that had been coiled in his gut had faded. Being awakened was a huge relief.

He feels different after the awakening. More alert. More alive. Colors are brighter. Sounds are sharper. Touches are… electrifying. It's almost painful. He had considered wearing sunglasses just to turn the lights on.

Magic was all around him. Joe felt connected to the world in a way he never had before. He had been reborn, and he wasn't sure how he had gotten by before this

"It's quite the sensation, isn't it?" Cas says, pulling Joe out of his thoughts. "Don't worry, the pain will fade. Footsteps will stop sounding like gunshots. Lights won't blind you. That buzz in the air however, will always be with you. You are now connected to time."

Joe nods his understanding. "Was your awakening as eventful?"

The older Warp Wizard chuckles. "No, unfortunately, Ro and I had a normal awakening. Well, as normal as a magical event like that could be. Really, our whole time as Warp and Aether wizard has been pretty uneventful."

"Think Tessa and I will be as lucky?"

"Maybe."

But Joe can tell from Cassius' tight-lipped smile that he's hiding something. He never has a chance to find out what.

Arwen limps into the infirmary. The gash on her legs isn't as bad as it originally looked. All her bones are in one piece, but the injury would leave a scar. At least she had a cool story to go with it.

"Looks like my next appointment is here." Cassius gestures for Joe to stand. "Make sure to get lots of rest. You might want to consider keeping the lights low for a bit too."

Joe heads out of the infirmary, nodding to Arwen as he passes by. Everyone had been in this weird limbo state between friendship and distrust since the fight. None of them had really spoken to each other. It wasn't a comfortable situation. It was a rocky start to their venture into the world of magic.

Unfortunately, Joe's walk back to his room isn't as quiet as he hoped. He spots the last person he wants to see right now heading in his direction.

"Hey," Tessa says. Joe can tell she's trying to smile, but she's too exhausted for it.

"Hi," Joe responds. His voice comes out hollow and sharp. It'll be a while before he can forgive her for everything that happened in Cealus and learn to trust her. He didn't care that they were supposed to be great wizard partners.

"I'd say sorry, but I don't think you'd believe me."

"Because you wouldn't mean it."

"You catch on quick, bun-" She cuts herself off. She takes a deep breath before continuing. "Look, I know it wasn't a great start to our partnership, but we're in this together 'til the end. Whatever end that may be. Like it or not, we're stuck together, but everything will be a lot easier if we can be friends. It might take some time to get there, but you have all the time in the world." This time Tessa does smile. She moves past Joe and continues her walk down the hall.

"Are all of our adventures going to be that crazy?" Joe asks without warning. Even if they did become friends, he wasn't sure he would survive any more days like yesterday.

Tessa pauses. The corners of her mouth quirk up as she looks at Joe over her shoulder. "Welcome to magic."


End file.
